This Time, It's Me
by Higuchimon
Summary: [12/12 chapters, complete, Anzu x Honda/Honda x Anzu, Supportshipping] As Valentine's Day draws near, Anzu wavers between just sticking to her obligations, or stepping away to follow the call of her heart.
1. Passing Notes and Glances

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Story Title:** This Time, It's Me  
**Chapter Title:** Passing Notes and Glances  
**Story Word Count:** 3,799  
**Chapter Word Count:** 3,799  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Romance:** Honda x Anzu  
**Notes:** This takes place a few months after the Ceremonial Duel, in the closing weeks of their third year of high school. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**Summary:** As Valentine's Day draws near, Anzu wavers between just sticking to her obligations, or stepping away to follow the call of her heart.

* * *

The fact Valentine's Day was less than a month away wasn't lost on anyone at Domino High School. It didn't matter that underage dating was against the rules. This was Valentine's Day. Even the teachers tended to look the other way around this time of year. Girls gave guys appraising looks and counted up their funds, while guys tried not to look as if they were doing their best to _look_ their best. Some of them even dared to hope for more than just the usual obligation chocolate gifts that they'd probably received every year since they'd gotten into high school. Those who did kept quiet about it, though. No teenager made it through these halls without learning a little something about discretion. They might not use it all the time, but they at least knew about it.

Mazaki Anzu wasn't always thrilled by this time of year. Picking out the usual boxes of chocolate to give to almost half a dozen guys wasn't going to be that hard. She knew exactly what Yuugi, Honda, Jounouchi, and Ryou liked, after all, and it wouldn't be that hard to figure out what Otogi would want either. She wished Hanasaki still went to school with them. She'd heard he was doing very well over in America, though, and she was glad of that. There was no need to consider Malik in her plans. If he went to school with them, she might have, but since he was in Egypt, there was no need. _I wonder if they celebrate it there._ She'd never asked, and it really hadn't even occurred to her before.

She sighed a little under her breath and fidgeted with her pen as she stared down at the worksheet before her. It was very straightforward and simple, just a review sheet for some of the work they'd went over in the last few months, but it might as well have been written in some weird combination of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin for all that she understood it at the moment. There was something on her mind that had almost nothing to do with the work and only a little bit to do with the holiday thoughts that preyed briefly on her mind.

_I was hoping that he'd still be here this time._ She knew who he was. She just never bothered to use his name that often, even to herself. Even after everything they'd went through to find his name, she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She hadn't known him by it for that long and thinking of him as anything else by what she'd know him as was a habit she had yet to get into.

It was, of course, the other Yuugi that she meant. Pharaoh Atemu. He was long gone to the afterlife, enjoying whatever it was dead Pharaohs did after saving the world. She knew he was happy, or at least she hoped he was. But it didn't change the fact she'd severely hoped she could share yet another Valentine's Day with him.

Her cheeks burned red at the memory of the _last_ one that had passed. Even after a year, it still embarrassed her. How had she been such an idiot? She had thought after that mess with the Ferris wheel and the bomber, she would have learned her lesson.

At least that was one good thing about him being gone: she couldn't make a fool of herself again this year. Not over him, anyway. Probably not over anyone else either. She liked Yuugi a lot, and she knew that he liked her, but now just didn't seem to be the right kind of time to do anything. She didn't even know if she liked him as more than a friend, or if she did, if it were because of what she had felt for his other self. No one else seemed all that inclined to be in the warm places of her heart either.

It really didn't matter all that much in the long run. She told herself that over and over again, and was well on the way to believing it. So she didn't find a 'someone' while she was in high school. There were other things she could be doing, such as saving up for her dance education in New York City. She had quite a bit saved already, but not enough, not nearly enough. That was the drawback of only being able to work part time. Once she was out of school, that was going to change.

At least she'd managed to go ahead and get the permission slip she needed to work without having to be afraid of anyone she knew seeing her. It had been horrible enough when Jounouchi and Yuugi had found her at Burger World. Though that had certainly ended well enough, if you counted being held hostage by an escaped convict and rescued by a mysterious entity who had turned out to be a forgotten Pharaoh of Egypt and responsible for saving the world as they knew it as ending well enough.

_I should write all of this down one day. No one would believe it if I did, but I should._ If she could draw worth anything, she might have even considered making it a manga and seeing if she could sell it. Everything that they had all survived since the day Yuugi had solved the Millennium Puzzle had most of the qualities of a really good one, after all. But she wouldn't do it. There was no way she'd put out the secrets of their lives for everyone to see. She didn't even know everything that had happened, either. She had a feeling no one knew it all. Some things just didn't need to _be_ known, either.

She looked up from the paper and glanced around the room, wanting to see something that was different, if only for a few seconds. She knew she'd have to get back to it sooner or later, but maybe if she got a moment of refreshing sight, she could focus better.

Everything looked almost as it always had. The faces of her classmates, each one bent over their paper and staring at it just like she had been, were all familiar. Some of them had slightly different touches to their uniforms, such as Otogi or Yuugi. Even they still looked much the same, though. Except for Yuugi not having the Millennium Puzzle hanging around his neck, as he had for the last couple of years, of course. She wondered how he felt not carrying it anymore, not having his other self to talk to. She hadn't talked to him about that since it had happened. He hadn't really seemed to want to talk about it.

She didn't think he was _sad_, not in the kind of self-destructive way some might've thought. But he did miss Atemu, of that he was certain. They all did. It just wasn't something any of them really seemed to feel comfortable talking about, even all these months later.

Her gaze crossed briefly to Bakura, who looked even more deeply into the schoolwork than most of them did. He brushed back a strand of his long pale hair, and she caught a glimpse of Maeda Kotone sighing dreamily as she watched him. Anzu had to restrain herself from giggling; Maeda had been first and foremost one of Bakura's admirers from the day he'd set foot in the class. She hadn't been quite as vocal about it as some of the other girls, but Anzu had heard that she'd tried to send him something special for Christmas a couple of weeks earlier. He'd politely turned it down, whatever it was.

She glanced at the clock on the wall for a moment and wondered how long it would be until this class ended. She managed to keep a sigh back just as well as she had the giggle. They still had a little over half an hour to go, and then it would be time to get out of there. She looked back down at the paper and started to work a little on it. Maybe she could at least make the time go by a little faster if she did this. It wouldn't hurt, and it wouldn't hurt her grade, either.

_And I won't get detention, either._ Or so she hoped. Ms. Maruyama wasn't as insane about expelling and detentions as Ms. Chono had been, but better safe than sorry.

She fidgeted again a few minutes later, trying to think of what the answer to one of the questions could be. She remembered going over it in class and over it with Yuugi and everyone else after school, but it just wasn't coming.

She closed her eyes for a moment, hoping it would kind of pop into her head, then jerked up just a little when something bounced off her arm and onto her paper. What in the world...couldn't she just have a quiet class without things falling on her?

"Is everything all right, Mazaki?" Ms. Maruyama looked right at her as she jumped. "You're not done already, are you?"

Anzu flushed more deeply than she ever had in her life. "No, I'm not. I just had a ...one of those shivers you get sometimes." She ducked her head and noticed a small folded piece of paper against her arm, almost falling off of the desk. A note? Someone had passed her a note? Who would do that?

"Try not to get one again," the teacher advised, going back to the piles of papers on her desk. Anzu carefully slid the note into her left hand and held it there loosely, hopefully out of sight, and kept her attention on the worksheet. She made certain to do a few more problems, not looking at anything but the paper before her.

When she couldn't feel the teacher's eyes on her any longer, she leaned back in the chair as if stretching some, then unrolled the note. She almost laughed out loud to see Jounouchi's sloppy handwriting, then read it quickly.

_Hey, Anzu! Me and the guys were going out to the arcade after school. Want to come?_ It was just a simple note, but it warmed her quite a bit. She tucked the note under her work sheet and scribbled out a quick reply.

_Can't. I've got that new job after school, remember?_ She waited until the teacher looked a little more distracted than usual, then tossed it back over to Jounouchi. As soon as it was in the air, she looked back down at her paper as if she hadn't ever thought once in her life about looking away from it. Her heart raced a little; she hadn't participated in note-tossing since she'd been in middle school, and even then, it hadn't been with anyone but Yuugi. _Trust Jounouchi to try something like this._

She managed to work a few more problems before Jounouchi's reply came soaring back at her, landing this time right on her chest. Her cheeks burned brightly as she snagged it quickly, and refused to look even _remotely_ in Jounouchi's direction. Not only would that bring more attention to them than she wanted from the teacher, but she couldn't stand to see the look she knew would be on his or Honda's face. Probably both of theirs. She liked them both, but the plain facts were that they could be quite the pain without even realizing it. Even Otogi had better manners than they did most of the time. At least she could count on Ryou and Yuugi to be a little more mannerly. If either of them had thoughts like their friends, they were kept properly in their own minds where thoughts like that belonged.

After waiting just long enough to answer a few more of the questions, and noting that there were only about twenty minutes left in the class, she checked the note quickly. Whatever he wanted to keep talking about, he was going to have to hurry, or actually talk to her once the class was over with.

_Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. What was it again?_ Why couldn't he wait and ask her these things when they weren't in class? Probably because he wouldn't remember. Once the bell rang, if it didn't have something to do with duelling, Jounouchi hardly gave it a thought. Trying to keep his attention for a study session was a miracle in and of itself. She was going to smack him over the head for it one day. Or maybe she could talk Yuugi into having a duel with him, with the stakes for Jounouchi losing being him having to pay attention once in a while.

She jotted down an answer, curving her arm around the note and her work sheet so it looked as if she were working on the latter. It was a child's trick, but if it worked, she wouldn't object. At least no one else seemed to be paying enough attention to catch them at this. Maybe because they didn't think anyone would be silly enough to try something like this.

_**Sweet Stuff**__, that candy store about three streets over from the Game Shop, remember? They were looking for extra help because of the holidays._ She had no idea how long she'd be working there. The ad had wanted someone young for part time work, but when Ms. Tanaka had interviewed her, she had indicated the position had a chance to become permanent. There was White Day coming up as well, though that wasn't quite as big for candy as Valentine's Day. Though once the holidays were done, there was a stretch of several months in which most people didn't really think that much about candy except as an extra little snack.

"There's only a few minutes left, class," Ms. Maruyama told them, not looking up from her own work. All around Anzu, everyone worked faster, some of them looking as if they'd sell their souls, or at least take out a lease on them, for a few more answers. These weren't the final exams, but it helped to do well on them anyway. One could also never get in enough last second begging any available higher power for help. Anzu wondereds briefly if Kaiba had ever thought about branching into selling test answers. It would be a profitable line of work around certain times of the year.

Her thoughts turned a little more serious, as well as more and more towards her job as she filled out each new answer. She'd had quite a few, but she'd never worked at a candy store so close to Valentine's Day. She was under no illusions about how swamped they would be as the day drew nearer and nearer.

_Maybe I can get an employee discount for my chocolate?_ It hadn't been one of the reasons she'd tried for the job, but it had crossed her mind a few times. With all the chocolate she was going to be getting, anything that could lighten the price would be welcome. She fully intended to always let her friends know how much she cared about them all. They deserved it, after all that they'd went through together.

She debated for a moment if she wanted to give anything to Kaiba. He'd been through some of the same things with them, and in the last couple of years had changed so much from the person who had first so rudely pushed his way into the Game Shop. She didn't really like him all that much, but it would be polite. No, she finally decided. _I'll give it to people who'd actually appreciate it._ Besides, there would more than likely be the usual parade of girls outside of his locker, trying to get into it and leave their tokens of undying affection. If she gave someone candy, she wanted to be certain they would appreciate it, and not just sweep it into the trash like he was rumored to do.

At least her friends would be courteous enough to thank her for it, even if they went on to tease her about something else in the same breath. She recounted them in her mind, and nodded slightly. _Wait, I think I missed someone._ As odd as it might be to most people, she decided she would give a small batch of candy to Yuugi's Grandpa. He'd been so nice to them and done so much for them that she wouldn't feel right not doing something in return. But there was no way she would give it to him in person. She had never forgotten the look he'd given her when she'd first come to the Game Shop, eyeing her breasts. He hadn't done it again, but why take chances?

Well, six sets of chocolate wouldn't be all that expensive. It would just be having the time to get it, with school and work and her home chores as well. She'd make the time. She always did every year, after all.

The note came soaring back towards her at last, and she reached to catch it instinctively when she saw it, instead of letting it drop on her. That proved to be quite the mistake, however, when Ms. Maruyama spoke up firmly. "Mazaki, Jounouchi, if you've got all the time to pass notes to one another, then you've got the time to clean up the classroom today."

"Hey! It's not our day to do that!" Jounouchi virtually shouted, shaking his head. "Why're you going to make us?" Anzu hadn't expected him to take any responsbility if he got caught, and he proved her correct.

Ms. Maruyama only sighed. "You're going to clean up the classroom before you go home." There was nothing lenient in her voice at all. "Kaiba, Otogi, this means you'll be doing it tomorrow, since it was your day today."

Otogi just shrugged and leaned back in his seat as he dropped his pen. "No problem." Anzu wouldn't be surprised if he talked some of his fangirls into doing it for him. They weren't as adoring as they'd been when their second year had begun, but they still would do virtually anything that he asked.

Kaiba barely seemed to have even heard what was said as he had his eyes closed and the completed work sheet before him. He made only the slightest motion as the teacher looked at him, and from the slight air of concentration, Anzu figured he was probably working over some problem with his company. She was glad she didn't run something like KaibaCorp. She'd go crazy. After all, he had. Granted, Yuugi's other self had fixed that to a degree, but Kaiba would probably never really be what most people considered sane and reasonable.

Anzu's fingers twitched a little as she started to reach for the note. Before she could get to it, Ms. Maruyama was there, and had snatched it neatly from her. "You can pass love notes some other time, but not in _my_ class."

Anzu didn't take her eyes off of the teacher until she'd dropped the note into the trash can. As soon as it landed, she let loose a soft sigh of relief, glad that the teacher hadn't thought about reading it to the class. Of course, with Jounouchi's handwriting, she probably hadn't wanted to spend the time trying to decipher it.

Thankfully this was their last class of the day, and it was almost over with at that. Anzu kept her head down and stayed as quiet as she could, refusing to draw another second of attention towards herself if she could help it. Jounouchi did the same, and she figured he didn't want to spend any more time in school than he absolutely had to.

The idea of passing _love notes_ to Jounouchi kept cropping up in her mind whenever she had a few seconds to spare. Of all of her friends that she could've imagined doing such a thing with, he had to be at the bottom of the list. In fact, she couldn't really imagine passing love notes or anything like that with any of her friends. They were just...friends. Even with Yuugi and the other Yuugi, it hadn't quite been like that.

_I don't really know what it was like, but that wasn't it_, she mused to herself.

"All right." Ms. Maruyama motioned her and Jounouchi up to her as everyone else filed on out the door once the final bell rang. She noticed Honda and Yuugi hovering outside, probably waiting for Jounouchi to be able to join them. She knew Yuugi had to have remembered about her starting her new job today, but she didn't know if Honda would. It depended on if he were feeling responsible or not today.

_And that kind of depends on how much time he's been spending with Jounouchi._ She'd noticed the more those two hung out together, the more they tended to act like children instead of halfway responsible late teenagers. It had to be a guy thing. She was just grateful that the rest of her friends seemed to have been spared from it, at least while they were around her.

"Ms. Maruyama, I've got to be at my job in a little while," she protested a little as they were led to where the buckets and mops were kept. The teacher just shook her head.

"You should've thought about that before you started to pass the notes, Mazaki. Get everything clean. If you hurry, you might make it. There are two of you, after all." Ms. Maruyama turned to where Yuugi and Honda were watching their friends. "And you two aren't going to help. Go on, shoo! Out of here! School's over!"

Yuugi waved a little tentative farewell, then headed out, catching up to where Bakura and Otogi were, a little farther down the hall. Honda seemed a little more inclined to stick around, and for a moment or two, Anzu thought he was looking at _her_ more than he was Jounouchi.

That had to be wrong, though, especially since he said, "So, I'll see you at the arcade?"

"Right. I'll be there as fast as I can be." With that, Jounouchi got to mopping like a madman. Anzu watched him for a few moments before she headed over to get to work on the blackboard. She caught sight of something moving out of the corner of her eye, and turned just in time to see Honda still there, and this time, she was quite certain he was looking at her.

Oddly enough, the moment he saw her seeing him, he turned and left. Anzu shook her head. Boys. Who could figure them?

**To Be Continued**


	2. Rush, Rush

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Story Title:** This Time, It's Me  
**Chapter Title:** Rush, Rush  
**Story Word Count:** 7,601  
**Chapter Word Count:** 3,802  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Romance:** Honda x Anzu  
**Notes:** This takes place a few months after the Ceremonial Duel, in the closing weeks of their third year of high school. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**Summary:** As Valentine's Day draws near, Anzu wavers between just sticking to her obligations, or stepping away to follow the call of her heart.

* * *

"So, job at the candy store, huh?" Jounouchi bent over the mop and scrubbed with all of his strength. He'd done this enough times to know just how to get it done in the least amount of time.

"Right," Anzu agreed, knocking the erasers together and groaning as the dust speckled her uniform. She'd hoped she could get away without having to wash it another time this week. This was all Jounouchi's fault. If he hadn't started tossing notes at her, she'd be on her way to work already. "I don't know if it's going to turn out to be permanent or what. It might just be til after Valentine's Day. Maybe White Day." She wasn't holding a lot of hope for after White Day. Guys didn't normally buy _that_ much return chocolate.

Jounouchi nodded and straightened up, bending his back a little to get a kink out. She was quite certain she heard something 'pop' when he did, and couldn't help but snicker just a little. If it had been her, he might've made some comment about her getting old, but she wasn't him. She could, and did, think it, though. "Bet you'll be getting all the good gossip about who wants to ask out who or whatever."

"Yeah, wouldn't be surprised." It was one of the things she wasn't really looking forward to. Every time anything that related to romance cropped up in her hearing, she kept thinking about last year's Valentine's Day and how much of an idiot she'd been. It wasn't something she enjoyed thinking about, either.

She glanced at the clock again and winced. She couldn't stay much longer if she intended to get to work on time. But running out too early could get her permission to work revoked, if she were discovered. _So don't get discovered,_ her more practical side told her. She ignored it. That was the side of her that had led her to take the job at Burger World without getting the school's permit, and to getting the job at Death-T as well.

She shot a glare over at Jounouchi as he scrubbed at one stubborn spot. She thought she could hear him muttering a few things under his breath that shouldn't have been said in polite company as well. She didn't care. She had her own insults that she wanted to say right now. "This is all your fault, you know. If you hadn't kept on throwing notes at me, I wouldn't be here! If I get fired before I've even worked a day, I'm blaming you!"

"Hey, no one said you had to write me back!" He flashed a grin over at her, one of those infuriating ones of his that made her want to smack him a few times. It was just as well he had the mop and she had the erasers. If it had been the other way around, she might have been tempted to crack him over the head with the mop handle at the sight of it. "You could've just shaken your head or something. So it's just as much your fault as mine."

Now why hadn't _she_ thought about that? She growled under her breath and worked the dust even harder out of the erasers, imagining them as him. It certainly made cleaning them a little more fun. She also thought she was getting more dust out of them than she had been before.

"Man, I can't believe we're almost done with school." Jounouchi groaned, and stretched a little the other way. Anzu was absolutely certain she heard a 'pop' then as well. "Just a few more months and it's out into the big world." Excitement filled his voice. "I'm going to be a pro duelist. I'm really going to be out there, get my name known _everywhere_!"

She made a noncommittal noise, not really feeling like talking about it, not right now. Not here, of all places, stuck cleaning up because of _him_, with her job slipping farther out of her reach with every moment. She only had half an hour now to get there. Hearing his big plans for his future wasn't all that exciting either. She'd heard him mention them time and time again over the last few months.

"Hey, did you know Honda was going to be starting cram school this week?" Jounouchi asked as he got started on another part of the floor. "I think he's going to be trying to get into one of those fancy business colleges or something."

Well, that was news to her. "No, I didn't know. When did you find that out?" And why hadn't Honda said something about it to all of them? That was something they generally discussed among themselves.

"Just the other day. He was saying something about it when we were on the way home." Jounouchi didn't seem to be all that concerned. As far as she could remember, he'd never seemed that interested in his future except for dueling. What he would do when he couldn't do that any more hadn't crossed his mind. So seeing him uninterested in someone else's plans wasn't that big of a surprise either. "So, have you been applying to any schools?"

She could feel her cheeks burning already. "No, not really." The first thing that flashed across her mind was the letter from Julliard in her desk at home. She'd barely been able to bring herself to touch it since it had arrived. "Not around here, anyway." Why couldn't he affect the same disinterest in her life that he did for Honda's? Was he just asking because they'd been on the topic of the future?

One of those familiar Jounouchi grins made its way over to her. "Right. So what about elsewhere? Like New York?"

There were days she regretted him having found out about her ambition. This was rapidly turning into one of them. It wasn't that he'd ever downed it; he never had. He just _teased_ her sometimes, and the only thing she could think about was smacking him upside the head. That was also looking quite attractive right now. Maybe it wouldn't have the same effect with an eraser as it would with a mop handle, but she could improvise. She'd done it before, but she didn't really want to knock out any of his teeth with a globe.

"Anzu?" Worry tinged his tone as he called her name, and she shook her head quickly. "You all right? You were just standing there..."

"No, I'm fine," she told him, distracting herself with the trash can quickly. There was no need for him to know she'd been almost fantasizing about doing him damage because of unwanted curiosity. "I really need to get finished. I _can't_ lose this job."

He glanced at her, then went over to the door and looked out quickly. From where she was, she could hear only the sounds of a few other students here and there, more than likely cleaning their own classrooms or having club meetings. He looked back at her. "You can go on, if you want. I can finish the rest of this. I'm pretty good at it by now, you know." Yes, she knew. He'd done more of it than any of them had, even though they were all supposed to help with this. Ms. Maruyama tended to give out cleaning duties as a punishment more than anything.

But she focused on what he'd said for right now. "You mean it?" Maybe she'd give him two boxes of chocolate for that! She could just make it if she ran as fast as she could. She hoped so, at least.

"Sure, go for it. I know how important this job is to you." He picked up the trash can and waved her away with it. "Besides, we're just about done anyway. If anyone asks about you, I'll cover for you, too. Don't think they will, but just in case."

"Thanks!" She would have to forgo smacking him in the head, at least for today. She quickly grabbed her things out of her desk, shoved them into her bag, and started out the door. "I really mean that, Jounouchi! I'll pay you back somehow!"

"Don't worry about it." Jounouchi waved the trashcan at her again in a bizarre form of farewell. "Just get me free tickets whenever you actually perform somewhere."

That was Jounouchi all over. "It's a deal!" She hurried out, stopping just long enough at the lockers in front of the main doors to change out of her school slippers and into her street shoes before zooming out as quickly as she could get her legs to move.

_Was that Honda?_ She didn't bother to give more than the most cursory look as she hurried off school grounds. If it was, it didn't make that much of a difference. He was just waiting for Jounouchi anyway. Though why he'd stayed there instead of going on to the arcade with the others confused her. Maybe he was waiting for someone else? But who? It couldn't be her, he would have said something when she left the building. Maybe it was a girl? Miho was still around, and she wondered once in a while if he still liked her. As far as she knew, the student librarian hadn't noticed him, though.

It wasn't like he wasn't worth noticing, because he really was. He had the kind of rugged good looks that she suspected he'd done his best to foster to imitate the heroes of the Western movies he loved so much. He could be a pain a lot of the time, but there was a good heart buried underneath all the bravado, just like with Jounouchi. Honda just didn't show it most of the time.

_I'm being crazy. Must come from having the new job and Valentine's Day on the brain._ That was the only explanation that made any kind of sense, after all. She hurried along, dodging into the train she had to take to get to the shop, and sagged into the cushions. _I hope I'm in time._ She'd brought her uniform with her, and could only hope it looked better than she thought it would, crushed underneath all of her books. Maybe it was time she got a new bookbag, something with an extra pocket she could keep the uniform in.

"So, I'm going to be making _homemade_ chocolate for him!" The swooning voice wasn't familiar in and of itself, but what it said was. She looked up to see three girls in school uniforms seated across from her, chattering among themselves. "He's going to just love it, I know!"

_Homemade_. She flinched away from the memory of that and looked out the window as the train got moving. She knew she'd probably find someone who she liked well enough to do that for again, but it wasn't on her agenda at the moment. Not to do, and preferably not to hear, either.

"He's going to ask you out, you know," one of the first girl's friends told her. "You two are just _made_ for each other. It's not your fault he hasn't figured that out yet."

The first nodded some. "I know. But this is going to help him get the point."

Anzu mentally groaned. It sounded so much like the conversations she'd heard in Domino it was almost laughable. She didn't recognize their uniform offhand, but it looked as if it were quite fancy. It was probably one of the private high schools in the area. _And I'll probably have to serve them when they come to the store._ Well, it wouldn't be the first time she'd had to put up with people who were a lot richer than she was. More of them had come into Burger World than she wanted to think about. It had been one of those jerks who had wound up being the cause of her being fired from there, in fact.

Spying her stop coming up, she gathered up everything again, trying not to listen to whatever it was they were talking about. It was a little hard not to hear it, though. Everything sounded almost exactly like what she could've heard at Domino. Someone was going to make homemade chocolate for a guy they liked, more than one of them from the sound of it. Two or three of them even had guys who noticed they existed in mind. Classes and homework and cram schools were compared, and goals for the future. But it always came back to the chocolate and the upcoming holiday in the end. It was still almost a month away, but it didn't seem as if these girls could get enough of early planning. By the short time it took to get to her stop, Anzu was ready to jump and go, no matter how rude it might've been, just to get away from that.

She glanced quickly at the clock on the wall and breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't going to be late. She might miss being late by a very small margin, but she wouldn't _be_ late.

_I would have preferred being earlier, though._ Who knew what she might have to be shown before work actually began. She knew how to work the cash register, at least. That was basic no matter where she worked at. Learning the inventory and any particular quirks of the store was what she was concerned about.

Leaving the small talk of the girls behind her, and quite gratefully so, she headed to the candy store. It was easy to tell where it was, even if she hadn't been going there in the first place. The displays were visible from across the street, advertising the latest and most delicious brands of chocolate. Just because one bought sweets as a courtesy to one's friends didn't mean it couldn't be tasty. That was one of the reasons Anzu had decided to apply there. She liked the owner's philosophy. Everything would probably look even better once the holiday decorations went up in a couple of weeks.

She hurried inside, spying Ms. Tanaka behind the counter as she did, handing some small bags over to a customer. There were two or three other people there, looking over which particular sampling they wanted to take home with them.

Without a word, but with a nod to the storeowner, she slipped behind the counter and into the employees only area. There was only a small area for her to change in, but she did so quickly, straightening her hair as best she could and smoothing some of the wrinkles out of the skirt and blouse uniform until it looked as good as it was going to get at the moment. She stuffed her bag and school uniform out of the way, and stepped back out, putting on her most professional smile.

"Mazaki," Ms. Tanaka nodded slightly to her as she checked out the last customer. "The broom's over there, and the floor could use a good sweeping right now."

Anzu nodded back and went to get the broom. She swept neatly and quickly, making sure to get into all the small areas where dust liked to hide. She could almost feel Ms. Tanaka's eyes on her back, and tried not to look as if she were nervous. Was she going to get asked why she had rushed in there so quickly? Or why she'd looked so rumpled? Or why she hadn't come right after school? Could Ms. Tanaka _tell_ that she hadn't come right after school? Anzu gripped the broom and just swept faster, excuse after excuse tumbling over in her head until she felt as if she were about to go mad.

"Mazaki." The older woman said it calmly, but it shattered every ounce of reserve Anzu had managed to build up.

"I'm sorry, I should've been here sooner, but I had to help clean up after class, it was all my fault, and I'll make certain it doesn't happen again, I'm sorry!" The words spilled out of her as if from a broken dam.

Ms. Tanaka blinked slowly and looked at her in confusion. "Mazaki, I was going to tell you not to forget to sweep out the stock room as well, and to bring up another fifteen boxes of those chocolates." She indicated which ones she meant with a wave of her hand at an empty counter with a price tag affixed to the edge. "You weren't late at all, and you were actually earlier than I had expected you to be."

Anzu flushed the deepest red she ever had in her life and bowed slightly, not wanting to look her boss in the face just then. "I...I'm sorry, I should've waited for you to finish. I didn't mean to say all of that..."

"Yes, you did, or you wouldn't have said it," the older woman corrected her. "Let me know when you have to help clean up after school, if you know, and I'll make sure not to expect you quite as soon."

Anzu nodded again, fidgeting. "I won't always know," she confessed quickly. "My teacher likes to assign it if we get in trouble sometimes. So I don't always know."

The shop owner eyed her for a moment, then chuckled softly. "Times do change, it seems. If that's what it's like, then don't get in trouble and you won't be panicking about being late." Her fingers tapped lightly against the counter, a smile curving her lips briefly. "Do I want to know what got you in trouble?"

The blush hadn't faded a bit. In fact, Anzu was very certain it had only gotten deeper. Ms. Tanaka's smile widened a little. "You don't have to say anything. I shouldn't have even asked that much." She waved Anzu back to work, her smile transforming into the professional look of a shopkeeper as the door opened and someone else came in.

Anzu swept again quickly, working her way back towards the stock room. She could hear her boss chatting merrily with whoever it was that had come in, and figured that it was someone she knew. The thought of seeing any of her friends here kept her stomach churning. She'd never dealt that well with them seeing her work. For that matter, she didn't deal well with anyone she _knew_, whether they were her friends or not, coming to wherever she worked at.

_The guys always do wind up wherever I work at, though._ Of course trouble tended to follow them, too. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad this time, since all the stuff of magic and danger had ended. _Don't kid yourself, Anzu_, she shook her head and leaned her broom against the wall, starting to look for the designed chocolates.

Not many people would've understood what she was trying to kid herself, or not kid herself, about. She would've gladly traded away being in safety if it meant that Atemu would be around again. Not in the kind of way she'd done before, putting herself in personal risk just to catch a glimpse of him, but knowing there was something _special_ abroad in the world, that _magic_ could still happen in the world.

Once she found the chocolate she'd been sent for, she gathered up the required boxes and started out. She wondered briefly what he would've thought about these, instead of what she'd made for him. A quiet sigh brushed past her lips. _He would've preferred them. That's what I was to him. The only thing I could've been, his friend._ It wasn't an honor everyone in the world had, of course. There were several people who had it who didn't even know who he really was. But she did, and it was a sweet ache inside of her to know that he was gone to where he belonged, never for her to see again. _Yuugi might one day. It would be horrible if __**they**__ never saw each other again. But I won't see him anymore._ She had a long time to get used to that, though, and it was best done quickly.

There were even more customers there when she got back, and some of them quite literally squealed when they saw what it was she had with her. Anzu winced to herself; maybe she should think about investing in a pair of earplugs. At least half of these customers were middle and early high school students. She didn't think she had been capable of making noises like that when she'd been their age. At least if she had, she'd never known about it.

She put the chocolate on the counter, organized it as quickly as she could, and stepped back, letting the customers get to it. _This is going to be a long afternoon._ Maybe she should've at least considered going to the arcade with everyone else after all. As much as she needed the money and didn't want to break her word, much less lose the job, it would've been a lot more fun than this looked to be.

_This is why someone like Honda should get a job here_, she thought, wincing even more as the door swung open and more high school girls trooped in, spreading out over the shop. He would've been very useful in controlling traffic or something like that. People did tend to be a little quieter and better behaved around him. Maybe it had something to do with that air of quiet menace he could produce pretty much at will.

Why in the world couldn't she get him off her mind? It made no rational sense. He'd been cropping up in her thoughts for hours now. She hadn't felt like that in months. Not since...

She frowned as she realized just what it had been the last time she'd not been able to get her mind off of someone, then shook her head. No. It wasn't the same. It was just something to do with her new job, that was all. The fact he was refusing to fully leave her mind didn't mean anything special. This wasn't like what it had been before. She wasn't crushing on Honda Hiroto. She just wasn't. She couldn't be. It was just a mistake she was making to even think about it. Even if she _was_, she was pretty sure that he wasn't thinking of her like that, and she'd already been through having a crush on someone who barely knew she was alive in more than a just friends kind of way. Doing it again wasn't on the agenda for quite a while, if ever.

But she still wouldn't have minded seeing him come in the door and straighten all of these fluttering girls out.

**To Be Continued**


	3. True Confessions

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Story Title:** This Time, It's Me  
**Chapter Title:** True Confessions  
**Story Word Count:** 11,330  
**Chapter Word Count:** 3,729  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Romance:** Honda x Anzu  
**Notes:** This takes place a few months after the Ceremonial Duel, in the closing weeks of their third year of high school. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**Summary:** As Valentine's Day draws near, Anzu wavers between just sticking to her obligations, or stepping away to follow the call of her heart.

* * *

Anzu's shifts were only to be for three hours, twice during the week and then one more on Saturday. Within an hour of her first shift beginning, she was quite convinced she'd already been there at least six. She hurried this way and that way throughout the store, restocking shelves whenever there was a spare moment, helping any customers that asked her opinion on various types of chocolate, fudge, cookies, and other such items, sweeping up whenever the customers left the store alone for a few minutes, and on occasion ringing some of them up at the register if Ms. Tanaka was too busy doing some of those things herself to do it.

It was still something of a surprise when her boss called her over to the register. There were still a few customers drifting here and there, speaking to one another in low, polite voices, but it wasn't as busy as it had been just a scant ten minutes earlier. "Mazaki, you're going to be in charge of the store while I'm gone," Ms. Tanaka told her. "I'm only going to be gone for about half an hour. You should be able to manage."

Anzu nodded briskly, hoping that she looked as competent as she wanted to and not as incompetent as she felt at the moment. "Yes, ma'am." It couldn't be as bad as at Burger World. At least here no one was making any unwanted passes and needing to be smacked straight.

The older woman vanished through the front door and Anzu was left mostly alone in the shop. The browsing customers didn't even seem to notice that the store owner had left. That was fine with Anzu. They probably wouldn't buy anything today either, not from the way they were just lazily looking through things. Ms. Tanaka had murmured to her that they were the type who would make a last minute bulk purchase of as many boxes of the common obligation gift bags as they needed, more than likely on the day before Valentine's Day. Right now, they were just exploring and killing time before they had to be home. She almost envied their free time.

If anyone did want to buy something, all she really had to do was ring up the sale, bag the purchase, and make sure to give them their receit. Otherwise, she got to sit there for a few minutes and keep an eye on them to be certain no one tried to sneak out with anything. It probably wouldn't happen, but better safe than sorry, after all. No one would be rude enough to suggest such a thing out loud, but they wouldn't need to, either. She settled herself behind the cash register and tried to get her mind as settled as her body was. She had to get Honda, and everything else, out of her mind and focus on being a candy-seller.

"Excuse me," one of the girls tapped on the counter to get her attention. Anzu wondered why; it wasn't as if she were deaf or something. "I can't make up my mind. Which one of these should I get?"

Anzu put the uncharitable thoughts out of her mind as quickly as she could and displayed her best smile as she looked at the options the blonde had presented to her. Both were reasonably decent brands of chocolate, made by reputable companies who had been in business for some years. "Well, are you getting it for anyone in particular?" That was one of the first questions Ms. Tanaka always asked when she helped someone make this. Anzu had heard her ask it more than once in the last hour.

"Just a friend of my brother's," the girl shrugged a little, the faintest of tinges crossing her cheeks. "He was kind of nice to me a while back so I thought I'd do something nice for him for Valentine's Day." She sighed briefly, and Anzu couldn't help but feel a touch sorry for her. "It's probably not going to compare to what his girlfriend's going to do, but...well, I just wanted to say thanks."

"Which kind of chocolate does he like better? If he likes the dark chocolate, they tend to make the best." Anzu motioned to one box first, then the other as she thought about what she could do to help. "Their dark chocolate's all right, but their fudge is _much_ better, really, and we've got some of that over there."

The girl lit up, her eyes sparkling. "That would be perfect! He _loves_ fudge! Peanut butter fudge if you've got it."

Anzu moved over to the appropriate display and deftly removed one box from it, handing it over to the customer with a light flourish. "Is that what you want?" She was quite certain that it was. This was the kind of fudge her own dad preferred the most, and she wondered if she should pick up a box of it for him when she got the chance.

"Yes, that's it! That's perfect! I'm sure he loves this, I know I've seen him with it before!" The blonde grinned widely and joyously as Anzu went back to the register. "Thanks, thanks a lot! I would've been looking forever and probably gotten the wrong thing."

"That's what I'm here for," Anzu said. She smiled as she rang the purchase up and tucked the box of fudge into a small bag. "I hope he enjoys it."

"Thanks again!" The blonde waved briefly and headed out of the store, bouncing with every step. Anzu smiled to herself as she settled back on the stool. There was something very good about helping someone like that. It wasn't on the scale some of the things she knew of had been done, but it worked fine anyway.

_The scale doesn't matter. What matters is that it's done._ It wasn't anything that Atemu had ever said to her, but she knew that was how he felt anyway. He was right, too. Or the sentiment was. It was hard to keep them separate, and it didn't matter enough to try. She liked the thought of spreading a little more pleasantness in the world. It could use it, that was for certain.

Shortly after she'd made two more sales, she heard the door opening again. She couldn't quite look up to see who it was just then, since she was ringing up several boxes of chocolates, which the purchaser had confided in her were to be a surprise for someone's birthday. But as soon as she heard that cool, confidant voice, she knew who it was. "Anzu! What a pleasure seeing you here!"

"Mai!" A real, true smile replaced the half-fake customers-have-to-see-this expression on her face in a heartbeat. It had been a while since she'd seen the blonde duelist. In fact, as far as she knew, it had been a while since _any_ of them had seen her. Jounouchi had been complaining about it just the other day. "What are you doing here?"

"As cliché as it sounds, I was about to ask you the same thing, until I saw where you're sitting and that nametag," Mai grinned as she looked around. "Nice little place here. I've heard good things about it from a couple of people that I know. You wouldn't be why I hear them, would you?"

Anzu flushed a little at the compliment. "I wish. I only started working here today, though." She tilted her head slightly and looked at Mai, wondering if there might be some other reason the blonde had come into the store. "Were you going to get some chocolate for someone?"

"Yeah, I figured I might as well dish out some to the guys," Mai shrugged, a hint of shadow crossing through her eyes. "I owe them a lot, you know. Might as well say thanks with something delicious. I mean, there's still plenty of time until the day itself but why wait, right?"

"Right." Anzu knew what she meant. It hadn't been that long ago when Mai wouldn't have even thought about doing something nice for someone else who played Duel Monsters. She wondered just how much Mai's life had changed since she'd run into them on the boat to Duelist Kingdom. Probably more than she could ever really imagine. "Well, if you want, I can help you pick out something." She flashed a conspiratorial grin. "I know just about everyone's tastes by now."

Mai laughed as she started to explore some of the inventory. "I'll think about it." She trailed one hand across some of the boxes, moving around one of the other customers casually as she did so. Anzu envied Mai's gracefulness sometimes. She wondered if there would ever be a chance that she would be that beautiful. _Funny, I didn't like her all that much when we first met._ She supposed it had a little something to do with Mai being one of the few females she actually knew on any level. "So how have you been since everything happened?"

"All right, I suppose," Anzu replied, ringing out another customer as she did so. "Thank you, please come again, ma'am." She'd grown more than a little skilled at keeping the customers happy while still talking to someone she knew once in a while. "I guess things have been a little dull recently, though."

She didn't really know how much Mai had ever figured out about both Yuugis. She hadn't been there with them in Egypt for the Ceremonial Duel, after all. After her experience with Malik's dark side, she probably had known more than she'd ever wanted to. But she'd almost never come out and said she truly _knew_ there were two Yuugis. Even Kaiba had acknowledged that, but as far as Anzu could remember, Mai had never mentioned it.

"I can imagine. I think I can live with a _little_ dullness, though, after everything else that's happened." Mai chuckled as she selected one box of chocolates. "So, how's Yuugi been?"

"All right. I think a little lonely, of course. After everything, I don't suppose he could've been any other way." Both of them were picking their words carefully, mindful of who else was in the store. "I haven't really talked to him that much about it. I've wanted to, but...I've kind of had my own reasons for not saying anything."

Mai nodded briefly in understanding. "I suppose it was kind of hard to decide what to do afterwards." She smiled again, eyes dancing. "I suppose when I give this to him, I can lecture him some about not inviting me. I would've liked to see them both like that. And from what I've heard, that duel was something spectacular."

"No kidding." Anzu had seen a lot of dueling in the last several months of her life, but nothing like what that one had been. It had probably set the bar for every other duel she would ever watch. She supposed that this was Mai's admittance that she had known, or knew now at least. "There's no way it could get any better than that."

Anzu noticed two of the customers coming a little closer to Mai. They both seemed to be about her own age, but she didn't recognize their school uniform right away. "You're Kujaki Mai, aren't you?" one of them asked, her eyes wide and surprised. "The duelist who was one of the finalists for Battle City?"

"Yeah, that's me," Mai grinned at the girl warmly. "Are you a fan?"

"Yeah!" The red haired schoolgirl seemed within an inch of whipping out a notepad and asking for an autograph. "I wish I could've seen you in the finals. I know you came in sixth, though."

Mai nodded a little and shrugged a touch carelessly. "There was a lot more going on in that tournament than I knew about. Not that it mattered. I did my best. I'll do better next time."

"I know you will!" The girl virtually gushed. "I'm...kind of a duelist myself. I'm not that good at it, but I'm trying." She ducked her head briefly. "I'm not even _close_ to being as good as you are."

"So keep practicing. That's the way to get good," Anzu put in. The two girls turned to look at her, and the redhead gasped, recognition filling her eyes all over again.

"You're Mazaki Anzu...you're Mutou Yuugi's best friend!" She shivered all over, and lightly smacked her friend on the shoulder. "See, Michiko, I told you we should've come to this place sooner! We're meeting all kinds of celebrities!"

"Pat yourself on the back for it later, Kohaku," Michiko didn't seem to be all that impressed, but more amused by her friend's hero worship.

Anzu wasn't all that certain if she wanted to blush or just to try to find something else to do to take her legitimately away from the conversation right now. She wasn't a celebrity just because she knew someone famous. Then again, she did know quite a few famous people, on some level or another. That didn't make _her_ famous, though, not in the way these two girls seemed to think. She scrambled mentally for something to say, and was taken off the hook by someone else coming up to the cash register, purchases in hand.

By the time she had cleared that customer out, the two girls had left, and Mai had gathered a couple of boxes of fudge and some cookies. She put them down in front of the counter and grinned. "It's kind of fun to have fans, you know. But these days, I'd rather have friends."

"You and me both." It was embarrassing enough sometimes going to school with some of the most famous Duel Monster players in the world. _I wonder what would've happened if I were out with Yuugi somewhere and that had happened._ It was hard to say, but she was beginning to be of the opinion that she wouldn't have liked it very much. Dates with people should be dates with _people_, not their fame.

Maybe that was one of the other reasons she didn't really want to try dating Yuugi seriously these days. It had been kind of fun when no one beyond their small circle knew just how good he was at games. Now, it would be a struggle just to get anywhere without someone wanting to duel him for the title. At least if she were with Honda, they could focus on whatever they were doing, not what people wanted to do to him.

There he was again, cropping up in her thoughts. This had begun to be annoying ten minutes before Mai had walked into the store.

"So, are you going to be making any special chocolate for anyone once the big day comes around?" Mai's lips curved up a little as she asked. Anzu ducked her head a little and worked on checking her out, not answering yet. Mai, however, could be quite patient when something suited her purposes to be so. She simply stood there, waiting for her answer.

"I hadn't thought about it," Anzu said at last, and hoped she wasn't blushing. "The last time I tried, it didn't work out all that well."

Mai looked at her a little more intently than usual, then simply asked, "What happened?"

Anzu sighed before giving the blonde her total. "It just...didn't work. I suppose I knew it couldn't have before I did it, but I still did it anyway. It was really, really stupid of me, too."

Mai didn't do anything except hand over the required total and keep on looking at her with an expression that clearly said she wanted to know everything. _Might as well tell someone_. She'd kept it to herself long enough, after all. Yuugi knew, and the other Yuugi, but one wouldn't talk about it, and the other one was where only the dead would be listening. Anzu was certain the dead had other amusements than her attempts at a love life. At least she hoped so. Otherwise hitting the afterlife herself one day was going to be one heck of a disappointment.

"It's not that much to tell, really. Last year on Valentine's Day, I made some homemade chocolate and gave it to the other Yuugi. He..." she flushed deeply. "He didn't have any idea of what it meant. Yuugi had to explain the whole concept to him. He never said anything to me about it. I don't think he meant to be rude, he just didn't _know_ what to say."

She bit her lip slightly. "I should've apologized to Yuugi about it. I mean, I've known he liked me, and I...I did that." She sighed again, wishing she could undo time to change that. "After I told him it didn't matter about which of them it was at Duelist Kingdom, too. I mean, it didn't matter, I like them both, but after that, I kind of really realized that they were two different people. Deep down, I mean. I didn't want to say anything, I didn't say anything for the longest time."

She didn't think she was making sense anymore. She wondered if she'd ever made sense at all when it came to having a crush on someone.

"Kid, everyone makes mistakes. We wouldn't be human if we didn't. I've made them, you've seen it. _He_ made them too. So you screwed up once. It's not the end of the world. He was still your friend, up until the end, and probably still is, wherever he is," Mai told her bluntly. "Yuugi's still your friend. If you really like him, let him know."

Anzu closed her eyes for a moment, trying to think of what she really felt. "I do like him, but not like that. And I was just thinking about something, too. I wouldn't mind dating Yuugi, but I don't want to date his fame at the same time." Saying it made things so much clearer in her mind. She could put up with whatever happened with Yuugi being famous as his friend. But other than that, it could only be annoying. She thought he knew it too. Maybe that was one reason he hadn't tried to ask her out or anything.

Maybe that was something she should talk to him about when she got the chance. It wouldn't hurt, at least.

"That's up to you," Mai reminded her as she took her bagged purchases. "But if you ever do find someone you want to date, you might have to like something about him that you wouldn't normally like. Compromises and that kind of thing, you know."

"Yeah." Anzu shrugged, then did her best to change the subject. "So what about you? Are you going to make anything for someone?" It wasn't really her business, but if she could talk to Mai, then Mai could talk to her.

The blonde grinned at her, then nodded slightly. "Two blonds are more fun than one, after all. I'll probably be coming back here for the other stuff, though. I'll see you around." Mai waved briefly before she headed out of the door. As it closed behind her, Anzu's efforts to stifle her reaction broke down and she laughed, glad that all the other customers had already left and that she was alone in the store for this.

She'd managed to recover her composure by the time Ms. Tanaka came back, and she'd even made a few more sales once the customers drifted back in again. Honda quite politely stayed out of her thoughts for the rest of her shift, and when it came time to get things together and go home, she was thinking far more of giving Yuugi a call if she felt up to it when she got home than of anything else. They really did need to talk, and she wanted it to be in person. But setting up some time to do that with was where it would begin.

"Good-night, Mazaki," Ms. Tanaka said as she zipped her bag and prepared to leave. The store itself wouldn't close for another couple of hours. "You did a good job today. I'll see you Thursday. Same time, of course."

"Good-bye, and I'll try not to have to clean up afterwards." Anzu smiled and nodded politely as she started down the street. She'd only taken a few steps before something caught her attention: a tall, broad-shouldered, dark-haired person standing not that far away, and looking right at her. For a moment, she couldn't imagine why someone would be there looking at her, then she realized who it was. "Honda? What are you doing here?"

He shrugged casually, and if it were a little lighter, she thought that he might be blushing a little. That had to be wrong, though. It was just the way the shadows fell on him. "Coming home from cram school, that's all. Didn't Jounouchi tell you I was going?"

"Yeah, he did. I didn't think you'd be coming by here, though." Anzu wondered what was up.

"I just figured you'd want someone to walk home with you. You don't mind, do you?" He looked as if he'd turn and walk off if she said she did. It was entirely up to her.

_Just a walk home, that's all._ It would be better to have some company, anyway. She was pretty certain she could remember the way, and how to put one foot in front of the other, but she _was_ tired. Why take chances? Having someone to talk to would be fun, too. "Sure, no problem."

"Okay, let's go." He started walking without anything other than that and she fell into step beside him quickly. He had a longer stride than she did, but he wasn't moving too fast for her to keep up. The thoughts concerning him that had wanted to hover behind her mind at odd times today all seemed to have vanished now that they were actually walking together. Walking with him wasn't as awkward or uncomfortable as she had feared it might be, those few times she'd ever thought about spending time alone with him. Actually, it was a pleasant enough feeling, if she thought about it, or even if she didn't. It was something she grew certain she could get very used to, as well.

**To Be Continued**


	4. A River In Egypt

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Story Title:** This Time, It's Me  
**Chapter Title:** A River In Egypt  
**Story Word Count:** 15,117  
**Chapter Word Count:** 3,787  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Romance:** Honda x Anzu  
**Notes:** This takes place a few months after the Ceremonial Duel, in the closing weeks of their third year of high school. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**Summary:** As Valentine's Day draws near, Anzu wavers between just sticking to her obligations, or stepping away to follow the call of her heart.

* * *

It had to be because she usually saw him with all of the other guys, she decided. That was the only explanation she could come up with for why Honda was being so quiet as they walked through the chilly streets together. He didn't have the kind of eternally running mouth that Jounouchi did, but he normally would've said something by now if one of the others were there. In fact, he would have usually been smarting back to something Jounouchi had said, while she would have been rolling her eyes and possibly smacking the blond around herself.

Not that she missed the chatter, really. Those few hours she had worked had drained almost all of what energy she had had left after a full day of school. She was a little surprised she'd even been able to recognize him when she'd seen him outside the shop anyway. She would've been surprised if she'd recognized her own mother after some of the working days she'd had. This wasn't exactly one of them, but it at least ranked up in the top twenty.

Honda himself didn't seem to be all that tired, but cram school was a lot different than work, or so she'd heard. He didn't have any books with him either. She frowned a little; that came in on the 'odd' side of the equation. She would have expected him to have a notebook or something.

"Where'd you leave your books?" Anzu almost winced when she heard the words coming out of her mouth, and mentally hit herself. Wasn't she _ever_ going to learn to think about things before she actually said them? Ever? It would be nice if she could, just once, for the variety of it.

Honda just looked at her, though, that slightly sideways look that she was certain many people had seen, and regretted they had. Her heart began to sink. _I thought...we were better friends than that._ Then she glared at him. How dare he look at her like that! She was just asking a question, one that _he_ should have answered instead of giving her that look! "What? You told me that you just left from cram school and came over here! You mean I shouldn't be wondering where your books are?" If someone had stolen them, she wanted to know if he planned on doing something to get them back.

"Hey, no need to bite my head off!" Honda backed off a couple of steps and stared at her as if she'd just grown a third eye. No, he hadn't been that confused whenever they'd seen that happen before. She fumbled around mentally, wanting to say something that would get them both off the proverbial hook they were on. Nothing wanted to come to mind. She swore at herself for being so tired; if she'd been rested, not only would this probably not have happened, but if it had, she could've figured out something to say in the first place.

Finally, she remained in the uncomfortable silence started by her snappishness and kept on walking, looking anywhere but at the tall teenager beside her. _Great. Just when things start to look up, I screw them up._ It looked as if it were going to be back to the complete round of obligation chocolates again. Just when she'd been thinking...

"I forgot my books at school, okay? I was kind of in a rush to get out once we were done, and I forgot about them. It's going to be a pain getting everything done tomorrow, but I can do it." Honda said at last, his own attention far more on the displays of the stores they passed, or shifting to the traffic going by on the street, than anything else. He was avoiding looking at her just as surely as she was doing the same thing to him.

"Oh." Well, that hadn't been what she'd expected. Honda wasn't always the most responsible person, but she'd never known him to just leave his books behind. Still, there was the first time for everything, she supposed. It wasn't the most unlikely event she'd heard of.

It didn't feel right to be walking without saying something. The silence just felt completely wrong. It was worse than uncomfortable; she almost felt as if it were waiting to be filled up. She cast her mind about; there had to be _something_ she could say now that the ice had been broken, so to speak. "So, what was it like? Cram school I mean. I've never been..." She trailed off, wishing she could hit her head against something. She'd had a brain earlier that day, she was certain of it. Where it was now, she had no idea. Maybe it would come back before they got home. She had no need to make a good impression on Honda, but she still didn't want him to develop the idea she wasn't capable of carrying on a sensible conversation.

"Hard," was the gruff answer. Well, no kidding. She could've figured that one out. Just asking the question made her look stupid, really. She berated herself for it all over again. Why couldn't she think of something _interesting_ to talk about between the two of them? There had to be something. "Almost wish I wasn't doing it in the first place." He glanced over at her briefly, the light reflecting in his eyes. "I could be doing other things."

Anzu blinked a few times, not quite understanding what he meant. Then she got it. He had to be talking about spending more time with the guys instead of looking towards his future. "You can probably still hang out with Jounouchi and Yuugi and everyone else on the weekends," she pointed out. "Besides, you guys went to the arcade today too, didn't you?"

What in the world was making him stare at the road so much? Then she saw it: a motorcycle just within their sight, waiting for the light to turn green. She knew he'd been wanting one for a long time. _He only gets to borrow that upperclassman's once in a while._ She couldn't see anything else around that would be getting his attention like that. She did wish he'd look at her a little more. It made her nervous, as if he weren't actually there with her, even though his body was.

"Yeah, we did," Honda told her without lifting his gaze from the machine. "Wasn't quite the same, though." He was quiet for a moment, then went on. "It should've been, since Yuugi kept on winning all the games anyway, but it wasn't."

Anzu nodded; she could imagine how different it would be. Or maybe she couldn't. She'd never really paid that much attention to the gaming side of things, not since Duel Monsters had risen up to take over their lives in those last few months. When she hadn't been going to school or cheering Yuugi on in a tournament, there had been her dance training to deal with, and wrestling with a crush on a spirit who barely existed save to play cards and save the world. Still, she knew what he meant.

"Yuugi's almost finished getting his name in the highest scorer list of all the games at the arcade," Honda went on, his gaze not leaving the motorcycle as they walked. "Jounouchi wants to keep an eye out and see if Kaiba tries to get his title back there, too."

Anzu laughed briefly, imagining Yuugi and Kaiba staring at one another over some racing game. It wasn't that unusual of an image, really. "I can't say I'd be surprised either way. Kaiba's unpredictable like that."

"That's one way to put it." Honda glanced back at her, then up at a digital clock as they came near it. "It's getting a little late. I think I want a bite to eat. Did you want to wait to eat until you got home or could you have something now?"

Anzu shook her head; that had come a little faster than she could deal with. But she did her best to process it all fast enough to look somewhat coherent. "Um, I don't know. I hadn't thought about it." Her stomach appeared to have already settled the matter, however, and announced its decision with a loud growl. "Maybe I should grab something before I get home." Yes, that would be a good idea, before her stomach decided to jump out of her mouth and deal with the situation all by itself.

"There's a ramen stand up ahead." Honda motioned to the half-visible light a half a block beyond them. "The owner's really nice. I've stopped by there a few times before. He makes some of the best ramen I've tasted, too."

There was no real way she could say no, especially not when he grabbed her firmly by the wrist and began to drag her along. She supposed she could've put her foot down and demanded to go somewhere else, but the scent of the ramen got better and better the closer she got to it, and what was the point in arguing? Ramen _was_ what she liked best, she was hungry, and he was buying.

"Two bowls of your best beef ramen, please." Honda put in the order even as they walked up to the stand. The cinnamon-haired vendor nodded quickly, brown eyes gleaming in the streetlights.

"You got it. Coming right up!" He scooped their requests out at once, and Anzu caught a quick scent of the noodles. Her mother had always made good ramen, but something about this particular batch seemed to stand out above it already. She wished it would have been polite to ask him what recipe he used. She might just have to settle for coming back here a few more times, if what he served tasted as good as it smelled.

The motorcycle Honda had been so fascinated by wasn't anywhere that they could see it from this angle, but he seemed to find something else to look at right now. Anzu tried to figure out what it was, and when she did, she was even more confused than she had been earlier. Why was Honda finding the lettering on a street sign so fascinating? _Boys. They are __**too**__ weird. I wonder where I can get some more female friends._ Ones her own age and who lived in the area would be good. She liked Mai fairly well, and Shizuka had been a refreshing change to hang around, but neither of them were what she could really call a _good_ female friend. Mai was too old and Shizuka just didn't live in Domino City.

But there would be time enough to think about that later. There was ramen to be had at the moment, which was far more important than her lack of feminine companionship. Bowls and yen exchanged hands, and Anzu took hers carefully, enjoying the warmth that sank into her as she did so. The weather had been mostly warm for the last few days, but once the sun set, the temperature could and did take quite the sudden drop. Her coat was enough to keep her warm, but there was something unexplainable about how _good_ that bowl felt just then. It was almost a shame to have to eat it and get rid of that lovely sensation.

"Have a nice evening, kids." The vendor grinned at them as he put his payment away. Anzu nodded and smiled back at him as cheerfully as she could.

"We'll do our best," she told him as they got started again. After all, things really weren't going all that badly, as evenings in January went. She was with one of her best friends and she had a good hot steaming bowl of some of her favorite soup. There was little else she could think of that she needed to make things any better.

Well, maybe an extra hand or two, so she could eat her soup and carry her satchel at the same time. That could've helped quite a bit. She frowned as she tried to scoop up some noodles, only to have her bag bang against her side, sending everything in the bowl sloshing about. She was just barely able to keep her food from spilling all over the street. "This isn't as easy as I thought it was going to be," she muttered balefully. Gravity and balance could be a pain. _You'd think I'd be able to do better than this. I'm supposed to be trained for dancing!_ Dancing, however, was not keeping a bowl and a bag straight while eating, walking, and avoiding bumping into anyone else who was on the sidewalk at the same time.

"What isn't?" Honda asked. He looked over to see what she was talking about, then reached a hand over to her helpfully. "Here, hand me that satchel. I'm going to wait a bit before I eat, so I'll carry this while you eat yours. Besides, I'm not as hungry as I thought I was."

Anzu frowned a little; she was fairly certain she'd heard his own stomach rumbling a little while they had waited for the vendor to serve them. Still, she couldn't hear anything _now_, so maybe it had been her imagination. She handed her satchel over, then took back the bowl and started to eat. The best way to handle this, in her opinion, was to finish the snack as quickly as she could, and then take back her possessions so Honda could have his. That way whether or not he'd been lying, they'd both get something warm in them as soon as possible.

"So, what else did you guys do today while I was slaving away?" she asked between mouthfuls. She wished she'd gotten herself a drink. A nice can of green tea would have went down very well with it, not to mention cooling her just a touch. This ramen was _hot_! Which was exactly what she wanted, but she didn't want to be scorched eating it. "Arcade, cram school...anyone try to take over the world?"

"No, but I hear there's going to be some kind of alien invasion in another few weeks." Honda grinned at her, mischief gleaming behind his eyes. "Something to do with pink and drugged candy or something like that."

She audibly groaned. Leave it to him to make some sort of bad joke out of a holiday. Not that she was too surprised, if she thought about it. He was a guy, and not really the most sensitive one she'd ever run across either. Not like...no, she didn't need to head down that way. Bad Anzu, bad. She had to keep focusing on the future, and he was in the past. Or somewhere.

"Well, is there anyone that you're hoping will give you something next month?" She didn't want to ask quite straight out if he had his eye on someone. He probably did, after all. She knew every one of his good qualities, and most of the bad ones too. That gave her an edge over all the girls in school. Most of them had no idea of what he could be like when he was in a bad mood, or the temper that still smoldered beneath his increasingly more polite outer surface. _And what do I want an edge for?_ she wondered.

Then she decided not to find out. It might lead into things she didn't really want to think about right now. Maybe sometime next week would be better. Or even next month. Possibly next year. Next year was sounding very good. Or even the year after that. Or the year after _that_. There was always going to be time, wasn't there?

"Well, I wouldn't turn something down no matter who gave it to me," he replied, a cocky grin almost literally appearing on his face. "Gotta be nice to the ladies, right?"

"Right." She rolled her eyes just at the thought. She needed patience to deal with him. Or perhaps some kind of a portable anvil. The anvil sounded very good at the moment. Maybe she could find one for sale online. It wouldn't hurt anything to look and fantasize a little.

"But there's no one I'm really thinking that much about," he continued, then handed her back her satchel as she handed him her empty ramen bowl. That had been delicious. She was definitely going to have to treat him to something good herself sometime soon. Maybe he wouldn't be busy this weekend and they could do something together. Or she could check with Miho and see what _she_ was planning to do for Valentine's Day. The librarian didn't quite count as one of her friends, but a little casual conversation wouldn't be out of place. Honda would appreciate it, whether he admitted it or not. "So what about you? Are you planning on giving some to anyone?"

Funny he should ask that, considering what had been on her mind since the last part of school, as well as who had been on her mind since then. There was no need for him to know, though. It was plain he wasn't interested, even if she had been more than casually interested in him. He would've said something, even if he hadn't meant to. This was _Honda_. The closest she'd ever seen him come close to subtle was that puzzle back in their first year.

"I don't know. After last year, I don't really know if I'm feeling up to it this time." She shrugged a little. She couldn't remember offhand if he knew just what had happened the previous February. She was pretty certain he did. She had never made a secret of how attracted she'd been towards the Pharaoh, after all. There were people in other countries who knew how she'd felt, quite literally. But she was certain Malik, Rishid, and Isis would keep quiet about it, if they even considered it worth thinking about. She somewhat doubted they did; they had other things on their mind that were much more important than her not so fascinating love life.

Honda just nodded a little himself. "Hey, no problem. Romance isn't everything it's cracked up to be." He fidgeted a bit as they passed by on the far side of the street from the Kame Game Shop and she was certain she caught him looking that way.

"Did you want to stop in and see Yuugi?" she asked. It wouldn't bother if they did. She wouldn't mind talking with him for a while, if he were feeling up to it himself.

"I think he kind of wants to be alone for a while. He acted like there was something on his mind while we were at the arcade," Honda told her. She sighed some; she was really going to have to try and talk to Yuugi when she could. She didn't know how much good it would do, but she was going to try anyway. It was what was _right_ to do.

"I hope there's nothing wrong with him," she whispered, pulling her gaze away from the store as they walked out of sight of it. No matter what, Yuugi was her best friend, and she wasn't going to let anything happen to him if she could stop it. She wanted him to know that he could talk to her about anything, no matter what.

There wasn't much more of a trip between her house and the Game Shop. It usually took Anzu about ten minutes to walk it, but as she and Honda made their way down, she didn't even bother checking the time. She didn't need to. She was just too tired, for one thing, and for another, it didn't seem to matter right now. What mattered was putting one weary foot in front of the other, not bumping into Honda, not falling down or falling asleep where she moved, not dropping anything, and somehow managing to maintain a bit of conversation as they walked. She was _so_ looking forward to finally getting home and falling into her warm bed.

Unfortunately, she knew she couldn't even do that when she did get home. She had homework to do, at least a couple of hours of it. Maybe a hot bath and something more to eat than the ramen would perk her up enough for it. She'd have to try. Maybe this was why students were discouraged from taking after school jobs. She had no idea how Jounouchi, much less Kaiba, managed to do it. Well, maybe not how Jounouchi did it. Kaiba was not only insane, he wasn't human to begin with. He didn't have to worry himself about mundane things such as eating or sleeping.

The other jobs she'd had over the last couple of years hadn't affected her quite like this. Maybe it was because of the extra work they were being given since they were so close to the ending of high school. It sapped at her strength. She could manage, though. She had no choice but to manage. She _would_ fulfill her dream, no matter what.

"Are you going to be all right?" Honda looked at her, worry touching his deep brown eyes. She'd always known how soft and warm they looked. Anyone who knew Honda for more than a few days had a tendency to comment on that, actually. She'd known him for nearly two years and yet somehow it seemed as if she'd actually never _looked_ at those eyes.

It seemed she needed sleep more than she'd originally thought. She fought to answer him without stumbling over the words. "I'll be fine. It's always like this on the first day at a new job, especially when I haven't worked for a while." She knew she'd get used to it. It was just waiting until she did that was going to drag her down.

Finally they both stood in front of her home. It was hard to tell if her parents were watching for her or not. They knew she'd be home roughly around this time, and they'd put up with her mysterious appearances and sometimes disappearances for the last couple of years quite nicely. She would like to come in on time, or close to it, tonight.

She looked over at Honda, and smiled some. "Thanks for walking me home. I might not have made it here awake if you hadn't."

"No problem," he waved it off. "I'll see you at school tomorrow." Without another word, he started down towards his own place, and Anzu couldn't help but watch and smile as he faded out of sight.

**To Be Continued**


	5. Icebergs and Dark Pits

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Story Title:** This Time, It's Me  
**Chapter Title:** Icebergs and Dark Pits  
**Story Word Count:** 18,919  
**Chapter Word Count:** 3,802  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Romance:** Honda x Anzu  
**Notes:** This takes place a few months after the Ceremonial Duel, in the closing weeks of their third year of high school. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**Summary:** As Valentine's Day draws near, Anzu wavers between just sticking to her obligations, or stepping away to follow the call of her heart.

* * *

There couldn't be another answer. Anzu desperately wanted it to be different, but there was nothing else that fit. She shook her head a little and tried again, wanting all the pieces to come together in a different way this time. They stubbornly refused to do so. Once again, no matter how wrong it looked, this had to be the answer.

Reluctantly she wrote it down and moved on to the next question of the test. This one was just as confusing as all the ones before it. She wished that Ms. Maruyama hadn't been so insistent on reviewing everything they had went over. She knew she'd probably be glad of it once final exams and college exams came along, but that didn't mean she was enjoying it _now_.

At least she had something better to look at than this test paper constantly. She could see Honda out of the corner of one eye, but tried not to pay that much attention to him. She wanted to, really, but as much as she appreciated the alternate view when the paper got to be too much for her, now wasn't the best time. He still wandered into her thoughts on certain occasions, usually when there were other things that she needed to think about. It wasn't unusual for her to find herself thinking about him during the most mundane of tasks. It didn't matter if she were taking out the trash or watching a cloud go by, in those rare moments when she could stop and watch the sky, she would sometimes find herself wondering what Honda would think of the wisp of white. Sometimes she wouldn't even think something that coherent, but he would just be a quiet presence in the back of her thoughts.

The first night that he'd walked her home from work had been when it started. In the two weeks since then, every time she got off of work and was ready to go home, Honda was there waiting for her. They walked together, talking of this and that, but there were still things that went unsaid, and unthought of, at least by Anzu. She had no idea if he were thinking of them or not.

_And he always buys me something to eat._ It wasn't always ramen, but they generally stopped somewhere and had a light snack. Anzu wondered briefly what they'd be getting tonight. It was never enough to spoil her appetite for dinner, but there was something indescribably different about it, something that set those little moments of meals apart from every other time she'd grabbed a bite to eat with her friends.

She watched him for a few moments and did her best not to make it too obvious that was what she was doing. He stared down at his paper the same way she had at hers, only with a little furrow between his eyes. It pulled at his face at just the wrong way, making him look a little mean and nasty. If she hadn't known him the way she did, she might've even been scared of him.

_I wouldn't be the first person, I know that._ She'd never really asked Yuugi what it had been like to be scared of Jounouchi or Honda. He hadn't wanted to talk about it, especially after they all began to be friends, and she'd respected that. Now, though...now she wasn't certain what she wanted, only that she wanted to know more about _him_.

There wasn't anyone she could really ask, either. Jounouchi wouldn't tell her anything, no matter what. She thought it was some kind of guy code of honor and was probably reinforced by their mutual days in gangs. As far as she knew, it hadn't been the _same_ gang, nor was she positive that Honda had ever been in one. It was hard to separate his past from Jounouchi's for a lot of people, herself included. That didn't stop them from keeping as quiet about it as possible. It was entirely possible Honda had left whatever gang he'd been in on much better terms than Jounouchi had left Hirutani's, but they still wouldn't talk about those days.

She smiled a little, reminded somehow of what Honda had said once to Yuugi when they had been looking for Jounouchi when he'd been threatened by Hirutani. _Even though you're my friend, I don't want you falling to my level._ She understood what he had meant. Honda was a better person because of becoming Yuugi's friend, and none of them wanted his bright spirit tarnished by anything like their own past. That was one of the reasons they kept quiet about those days, as if speaking of them would somehow make them come back.

_I know that's not going to happen. But if they don't want to talk about it, I can't make them._ Really, what mattered was what someone had made of themselves now. Honda wasn't who he had been, and who he was, was someone she really liked to be around.

She watched him a little more closely, something pressing lightly at the back of her mind. _He's been going to the cram school for as long as I've been working. I'm exhausted every day that I work. But he looks as fresh as can be, just like none of this extra studying means a thing to him._ There was no way that he was that tough. Even Jounouchi looked tired when he had to study a little more, and Honda wasn't all that much better than he was when it came to school subjects.

_Cram school_. She finished more problems, completed the sheet, and turned it over on her desk, waiting for everyone to be done so she could pass it in with the rest. That would still be a few more minutes, giving her valuable time to think this through. If Honda wanted to go to business college, or college of any kind, it wasn't unusual for him to take the extra classes. He certainly wouldn't be the first, last, or only student to do so.

But something had begun to ring false to her about it. Every time he'd been waiting for her, he hadn't had any books with him at all. The first time, she'd believed that he'd just forgotten them at the school. No one was perfect, after all, least of all him. But the second time, and the third, he hadn't had them either. In fact, he hadn't _ever_ had them. She'd gotten used to not seeing them, and it had slipped her mind over and over again to ask about it after the first time. But now, it had begun to prey on her mind over and over again. _Something_ was going on, something unusual. In her experience, that didn't mean well at all.

She was just going to have to come out and ask him, she decided. It would be the only way that would actually get a result. Hemming and hawing around the issue would just be more of a pain than anything else. Besides, being direct had generally worked somewhat before. When she could be direct, of course. It hadn't been easy trying to think of ways to see the other Yuugi that could've worked, and when she realized they were so close to being the same person they might as well have been, Yuugi was already too involved in wanting to help his other self find out who he really was, and then they were in the middle of Battle City, and there had been _no_ time to do anything else but try to survive that particular nightmare.

_Was it too little too late?_ Maybe it had been. Maybe now she could have another chance, with someone else. Framing the question the right way would be key, though. Then there was the answer she got, whatever it might happen to be. What if he was lying to her?

She shifted a little nervously, not liking the way that thought felt inside of her mind. Her stomach churned and went icy, and it was all she could do to keep herself from turning a few shades of green. He had to be telling her the truth, and he had to just be being careless with his satchel of books. Even if it had kept happening for two weeks. It _could_ happen. It wasn't impossible. It didn't feel right at all, but there had to be a plausible reason.

Anzu pushed the rest of that line of thought out of her mind and sat up a little more as the teacher called for their work. _I'll talk to Honda about it tonight. There's got to be an explanation._ If there wasn't a _good_ one, she was going to teach him a good lesson for playing games with her, too.

The rest of the day passed more quickly than Anzu might've wanted it to, all things considered. She really wanted to talk to Honda, but every time a moment edged near that could be right, she noticed that he looked more and more angry about something. _Maybe I should ask him about __**that**_. Whatever it was, it might be something that she could do something about.

No one else seemed to have any idea of what was wrong with him, either. Yuugi kept flicking the same sort of looks towards him that she did, a worry line evident between his eyes. Jounouchi openly stared whenever they had a free moment, and she managed to catch him tossing a note over towards Honda once. The brunet only balled it up without even looking at it or taking his gaze off of his book. As the classes finally came to an end, she got up and started over to him, intent on talking to him right away. Waiting until they were alone together after work could just wait. She wanted to know _now_.

"Honda, what the heck is wrong with you?" Jounouchi got there before she could even take the few necessary steps over to him. She listened, though, so intently she wondered if her ears might possibly be growing larger. "You've been looking screwy all day. So what gives?"

"It's nothing," Honda snapped. He shoved his books into his satchel and started towards the door. "Nothing that won't be done in another few days, anyway." He looked over Jounouchi's shoulder to where Anzu stood when he said that, and the ice that had melted out of her stomach at the thought of him lying to her suddenly returned, in the form of about five icebergs. Before she could say anything or move, he was already out of the door, with Jounouchi and Yuugi both hot on his heels.

_He is lying. He has to be._ She bit her lip and put the rest of her books into her own bag and latched it neatly. _I'll wait. Talk to him tonight. If he shows up._ She wanted to scream and yell at him now, but work was calling with its evil siren song, and she hoped there'd be at least a little time to work on some of her homework before she left it that night. There usually wasn't, but maybe this time would be different. She would need every scrap of time she could get for some of these assignments. Working and school at the same time was maddening. How could those American kids do it? It baffled her.

Maybe, she considered, she should quit her job and get back to being just a full-time student. Not having to rush everywhere to get to where she needed to go on time, to have more time to spend on her studies so she could get into a better college after high school, the ability to sleep in once in a while...the thought was attractive.

No. She shook her head softly as she walked out of class. She glanced ahead quickly to be certain the rest of them were gone, and breathed a sigh of relief that they were. Even so, she knew that she'd be glad when she got the chance to she could talk to them again. There was just never _time_ for anything else anymore. Quitting wouldn't change that. She'd only feel worse about herself in the long run. It also wouldn't help her with her dream, and she was going to be certain to make _that_ come true. It was one way she could honor all the time she'd had with Atemu. He had fulfilled his dream and his mission of finding out who he really was and saving the world. The least she could do was fulfill his faith in her by becoming the best dancer she could possibly be. She couldn't do that by giving up on what she had to do in order to get the money to go to New York City.

She made it to work in record time that day, and got settled in as quickly as she could. Ms. Tanaka had her ringing up people within the first few minutes, and she flashed her brightest and warmest smile at them as she did. The closer it drew to Valentine's Day, the more people started to buy obligation chocolates, and she could hear conversations about recipies for homemade chocolate becoming more and more common whether she was at work or at school or anywhere else.

_I envy them_, she thought as a small group of first year high schoolers left the shop, their purchases held close, and their voices raised in happy chatter. _They're so happy_. Dating might be against school rules, but giving obligation chocolate, or even homemade chocolate, wasn't. There were always ways around the rules, as any self-respecting teenager knew.

Honda knew it, she realized, a faint blush coloring her cheeks as she did. He'd tried to get a date with Nosaka Miho when they were in their first year. _That was how he and Yuugi really started to be friends._ She wondered if that was who Honda still liked. She still ran the library, as much as she could, but they had never been that close.

_What do I do that is who he likes?_ If it was, why wouldn't he say something about it? It wasn't as if this were the first time he would be expressing feelings for her. Maybe he was worried she still didn't want to get into a relationship, so was trying to keep his mind off of her? Or maybe she _had_ said that she wanted to try dating him? Though why that would get him upset was beyond Anzu's comphrension at the moment.

Maybe it was the other way around, though. Maybe _Miho_ liked him and he'd started to like someone else, someone he couldn't talk to about how he felt?

Well, there was a pretty easy way to find out, and it didn't involve asking him and him potentially yelling at her and her having to smack him around so he stopped acting like a five year old. All she would have to do is see if anyone gave him something that wasn't obligation chocolate, and then wait a month to see if he returned it on White Day. _That is a long time to wait, though_. At least in some forms of thinking it was. She was fairly certain she could manage it. But just the thought of having to _wait_ scraped on her nerves.

So, she was going to have to find out some other way. Valentine's Day hadn't come yet, after all. It was still a good two weeks away. What did it matter if he did like someone? He was a free person, he could like anyone he wanted, and it didn't make that much of a difference to her. Any girl in her right mind, and a few that weren't, would probably like him back. He was good looking, he knew when to keep his mouth shut at least part of the time, and he'd mentioned on their last walk home that his parents had promised to get him a motorcycle for his birthday in April.

He was also incredibly kind, caring, and a better person than he wanted most people to think he was. She wanted to think there was some kind of good reason for him to lie to her. She just hoped it wasn't the kind of reason that would make her want to find something very hard and beat him over the head with it. She couldn't bring herself to believe that it was. Honda wasn't that kind of a person anymore. He knew that, she knew that. _Doesn't mean I won't at least consider kicking him or something._

Closing time came, and just like usual, Honda waited out there for her. Whatever had been bothering him earlier still seemed to be on his mind, or so the dark look reflected in his ever so slightly narrowed eyes and the tension between his broad shoulders indicated. Anzu checked quickly; he still had no satchel with him.

"Hey." He nodded a little in greeting and started away with her. Anzu said nothing until they'd already went down at least two blocks. This was going to be it. She would find out what was going on, regardless of the consequences.

"Do you forget your satchel every day you go to the cram school, Honda?"

He shot a look at her as harsh as any he'd ever given someone. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen that. No, wait, she could. It had been in the Memory World. She hadn't minded seeing it then, but now it wasn't something very pleasant to see directed at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Just what I said." She didn't back down, despite the look. "Every single time you've come to walk me home, you haven't had any books at all. So, do you really leave them at the cram school every day? All the time? For two weeks?"

He stared at her a little as a flush slowly crept up his cheeks. She was quite certain she'd never seen him doing _that_ any time recently, and never for anything like a simple question. Her eyes narrowed as the full realization burst in on her, and the icebergs in her stomach began to crash into one another.

"You've lied to me." She said it quietly, but rage ripped through every word as they fell from her lips. "You lied to me, Honda. You're not going to cram school at all, are you?" It wasn't that big of a lie, not really, but it loomed in her mind. The icebergs fell away, replaced by a sudden gaping black hole of hurt.

_If he's lying about this, what else is he lying about?_ The thought rang over and over in her mind. Something else seemed to want to reach up and be heard as well, but it was just out of her mental reach. The simple thought of being lied to by one of her best friends overwhelmed everything. Why? Why had he done it? For what _possible_ reason?

"No. I'm not." He said it so simply, and she clenched her fists, striking out before she even bothered to think of anything else. "What was that for?" He reached up one hand to touch his cheek where she'd hit him. She couldn't tell if she'd left a mark or not, and she didn't care at the moment.

"For lying to me!" Anzu kept her voice down to an acceptable level as they passed several groups of people, but she still shook with fury. "Why, Honda? I'm your _friend_! At least I thought I was. If you wanted to walk home with me, why didn't you just _say_ so?"

He winced away from her a little, and she started to raise a fist again. If it took beating him up to get an answer out of him, she would do it. She'd apologize later, but she'd do it. "Because...you've got to go through some bad areas of town, and I didn't want you thinking I thought you couldn't take care of yourself."

Really.

Was that so?

How stupid did he think she _was_? She knew the area between her home and work very well. Before she'd even thought about it, she'd asked the question.

"Well?" Anzu glared at him as he failed to answer for almost five minutes and just kept on walking. "This area isn't bad at all, Honda, and you know that. So _why_ are you doing this? The truth. The _real_ truth."

They had just passed the Game Shop when he finally said something to her. "I did it because I wanted to walk home with you. That's all."

She looked at him, not sure of what to think. _He wanted to walk home with me_. "So why didn't you just ask?" She already regretted having hit him. At least it didn't look as if she'd left a mark.

Again he fell silent, and this time it lasted until they were just outside her door. "I don't know, Anzu. I..." he stopped, then started again. "I just don't know."

"Are you lying to me again?" She wanted to know. He started to shake his head, then stopped, still not really looking at her. "What kind of an answer is that?"

"The only one I have right now," Honda told her before he raised his head to meet her eyes. "You know...you can look really pretty when it's dark."

Perhaps in another place and time, she might've taken that a little differently. But just then, only one answer seemed to be even close to appropriate, and that was the one she gave just then. She hauled back her fist and whacked him over the head even harder this time. "What do you mean by _that_?" The implication that she wasn't pretty when it was light wasn't lost on her at all.

"Nothing! Nothing! I'm going to go home now! I'll see you later!" He pulled himself away from her and stalked off, grumbling as if he didn't care if she heard him or not. He probably didn't. "Yeah, it'll be romantic, Jounouchi says. Yeah, I don't see _him_ with Mai, do I? What the hell does he know about girls?"

Anzu blinked, not quite certain if she'd heard him all that clearly. Romantic? Jounouchi? Honda? She stared after him and slowly shook her head. That had to have meant something else.

_And if it didn't?_, she wondered to herself? If it didn't...she didn't know what she would think. Or do. Or feel.

But it really had been fun walking and talking just with him. And even in its own weird way, it had been...romantic.

**To Be Continued**


	6. Depths of Decisions

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Story Title:** This Time, It's Me  
**Chapter Title:** Depths of Decisions  
**Story Word Count:** 22,774  
**Chapter Word Count:** 3,855  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Romance:** Honda x Anzu  
**Notes:** This takes place a few months after the Ceremonial Duel, in the closing weeks of their third year of high school. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**Summary:** As Valentine's Day draws near, Anzu wavers between just sticking to her obligations, or stepping away to follow the call of her heart.

* * *

Honda liked her. Honda _liked_ her. Anzu prowled around the thought carefully, not really certain of just how to deal with it. It had never seriously crossed her mind before. He'd lied about cram school just to have an excuse to walk home with her. That had to rank up there among some of the stupidest reasons ever. Which in and of itself explained just why he'd thought of it. It didn't surprise her that Jounouchi had had _something_ to do with it. The only person who could have come up with something like that _was_ him, after all.

She stared up at the ceiling over her bed, trying to make some kind of sense out of all of this. The thought of him liking her, liking her in the way he'd liked Miho, or that she'd liked both Yuugis, wasn't all that horrible. There were certainly worse people in the world she could imagine having to walk home with or to have like her. Bandit Keith came to mind first and foremost.

_So, what's bugging me about this?_ She hadn't been able to so much as think about being at ease since she'd seen him walk away. She didn't want to call him back and talk to him about things. What could be said, anyway? Every time she thought about saying anything, her mind went completely blank. There was something that just wasn't _right_ about it, and she had no idea of what it was. She didn't even know if whatever it was that was 'wrong', or even if there really was something wrong, was what really bothered her about the situation.

Did she like _him_, was the next question, she supposed. It was probably what she would've asked someone else if they'd told her how things had been going. How did she really feel about him?

He was one of her best friends. That was the first thing, and the most important thing. Even when he was making scary faces that would've sent most people running away screaming about the madman in their midst, she felt _comfortable_ around him. He was easy to be around, easy to forget sometimes. He was just there so much, she didn't miss him until he wasn't. _I wonder if everyone else is like that about him._ Did he notice? Was he mad about it? Or did he just accept it?

No mater what, she did know that she didn't dislike him. She was very certain of that. She knew virtually every good quality he had. There might even be more she didn't know. He was patient, to say the least. He'd survived having Johji as a nephew without strangling the little creep. That said quite a bit about him. He could recognize when he'd done something wrong and try to make up for it. Every moment of his friendship with Yuugi spoke clearly of that. But was it enough? Was it even a beginning?

She moved her mind around the notion of liking him as more than a friend. _What would it be like?_ There was no way she could really imagine it. She _wanted_ to, but nothing came to mind at all. She almost wished Miho _had_ dated him. She would be able to ask what it was like, at least. The few minor dates she'd been on with Yuugi, if they even counted as dates, weren't enough. Even the multiple times she'd walked home with Honda himself just weren't enough.

The phone was clearly visible from where she sat, and she knew his number by heart. They'd talked about a few things before on the phone, homework mainly. She reached out for a moment, then pulled her hand back. No. No, he probably hadn't even arrived home just yet. If what he'd said before he'd left was any indication, he was probably pounding Jounouchi into the dirt for whatever it was they'd talked about that had led to this.

That was something she hadn't ever understood about either of them. Hitting something, or someone, when she got angry enough wasn't that difficult to get. She'd done it herself, multiple times, even to Honda himself not an hour or two earlier. There had been more than one person who didn't get it through their head that just because she was working in a fast food place, it didn't mean she was on the menu. A good swift smack or punch was often necessary. It had cost her a job once, but she remained convinced that it was worth it.

It was how they used wrestling around as an excuse for anything else that she couldn't get. Not all the guys she knew did that, of course, but they had their own ways of coping or whatever. She'd noticed Yuugi and Kaiba used Duel Monsters, and Otogi and Bakura used their own personal games to vent or whatever.

_I sure do know a lot of gamers_, she mused, tracing a random design on her bedspread. Of course, Domino City was practically made up of gamers, so it only made sense. But she knew most of them first hand, and because of Yuugi.

Yuugi. She smiled a little as she started to squirm around to get to the phone. That was exactly what she needed to do. It wasn't Honda she needed to talk to, not right now, it was _Yuugi_. He'd be able to help her work things out, without even trying to do so. Talking to him helped her think more clearly, it always had. She sat up straighter on the bed and this time picked the phone up, dialing him as quickly as she could. It wasn't so late that he'd be asleep, or at least she hoped he wouldn't be. She'd known him to fall asleep over his books once or twice since the beginning of their last year.

"Hello?" She had been right. He wasn't asleep. Good.

"Yuugi, it's me, Anzu," she said. She hoped he wouldn't be too upset or anything about what she wanted to talk about. Maybe this could also be the long talk _they_ had been needing for a while. Then she hesitated. That actually wasn't the kind of thing she wanted to do over the phone. She knew she wanted to talk to him about Honda, but she was beginning to suddenly wonder if over the phone was the best place for that, either. _I don't think it is._

Yuugi, not privy to her personal thoughts, responded to her greeting with his usual enthusiasm. "Hi, Anzu! What's going on?"

"That's hard to say," she told him. She was going to have to change her plans, and quickly, now. Why hadn't she thought about this a little more beforehand? _I need to think more._ She didn't mind being impulsive, really. But a little planning could possibly have a place in things too. It would save her from making too much of a fool of herself at times as well. "Yuugi, would you mind if I came over? There's some things I want to talk to you about, and I don't know if I want to do it over the phone, now that I think about it a little more. They're kind of personal, you know."

Silence came from his end for a few moments, and she gripped the phone a little harder. He had to say yes, he just had to. If he didn't, she had no idea of what she might wind up doing. _Stare at the walls and throw things at them if I get mad enough._ All right, so she did have an idea of what she was going to do. But that didn't mean she had to really want to do it."All right, if you want to. Come on over. Grandpa closed up the store about half an hour ago, but I'll let you in at the house door."

"Thanks! I'll be over as fast as I can be. See you then." She hung up quickly and grabbed her jacket. The temperature had been dropping lower and lower every night. She couldn't remember if it had looked like snow before the sun had went down, but it _had_ been pretty gray most of the day. It _was_ winter after all, still.

She hurried out of the house as quickly as she could, tossing a call of "Going to Yuugi's, be back soon!" over her shoulder to her mother before plunging down the street as quickly as possible. Anzu shuddered violently before she'd gotten very far; it had gotten even colder in the short time since she'd walked home with Honda. If it didn't snow or freeze or something before morning, she was going to be _really_ surprised.

As she darted along, she kept an eye out around her, wary of any kind of trouble. Domino had two types of people, she'd noticed over the last couple of years: gamers and goons. Sometimes someone could be both at the same time. She really didn't want to encounter either of them at the moment, at least unless they were somewhat short for their age and had multi-colored hair.

Or perhaps were a little taller than was normal, had dark brown spiky hair, and a tendancy to go for ultra heroics?

Yeah, that would be pretty good to run into anywhere around here. Not that she thought she would. He was either at his place or Jounouchi's, of that she was certain. Anyone with any kind of sense would be where it was warm in this weather. What that meant for her, being out on the way to Yuugi's, she didn't know, and didn't care right now.

She stopped about two streets away from the Game Shop and looked around, wanting to be certain no one was in the area who shouldn't be. There wasn't a lot of traffic around here at this time of evening, and what there was tended to be mainly cars going through as quickly as they could. _I heard something._ A different kind of engine, not a car. She wasn't an expert, but it sounded just a little like a motorcycle.

_So what if it is?_ Anzu reprimanded herself and started going again. _There aren't any __**motorcycle gangs**__ around here._ She'd heard about them, of course, but as far as she knew, most of the gangs in Domino roamed around on their own two feet. There was always the chance of someone new wanting to terrify people, of course. She couldn't be certain if the sound had been of one engine or a lot more, though. A quick car turning from a distant street blocked out anything else she heard as it zoomed on past her, and she shook her head. _I am __**too**__ jumpy_. This was familiar territory. She didn't need to come out of her skin every time something odd happened.

_Nothing else is going to happen. All of that is over with now._ She'd told herself something like that over and over again, and it had only recently begun to really sink in as a solid fact. It didn't stop her from being a little nervous whenever she heard something unusual or someone happened to transfer into the school, though.

She berated herself for her silliness even as she crossed the street, checking quickly for any other vehicles coming. She frowned, trying to look a little more clearly through the thickening evening darkness. Something had caught her attention, the faintest flicker of what looked like a street light off of some kind of metal, in a way that just didn't look as if it belonged. It wasn't easy to tell if what she'd seen was really there, anyway. If it was, it had already moved on.

Her fists clenched as she kept on going, listening as hard as she could for any other sounds that didn't belong in the cold evening air. If there were really a cyclist behind her, then she would hear them pass her. It wasn't against the law to do that, after all. _But they're not passing me. If they're really there._

A slow chill gripped her spine, along with the deep certainty that there _was_ someone watching her, and she refused to look behind herself at all. If she didn't see it, then it wasn't there. Perhaps not the brightest philosophy, but it kept her going. She was almost at the Game Shop, and whoever it was could just sit there until she was done talking to Yuugi. She'd give them a good swift punch if that was what it took to convince them she wasn't someone to be followed around like that. Some of the guys in this city just wouldn't take 'no' phrased any other way. She was good at letting them know it like that, though. Practice made perfect, and sadly enough, she'd had more than a little practice.

This part of town was well-lit, and the chills in her stomach eased a little more as she came within sight of the Game Shop itself. _No more cycle either_. Whatever it was, or whoever it was, had went away, or never even really been there in the first place. If she had heard a motorcycle, it had went in another direction and she'd been overreacting the whole time. _It wouldn't be the first time, either._ She was going to wind up laughing about this with someone, sooner or later. With Yuugi and sooner, in a pleasantly warm kitchen, was her preference.

She could see the light in Yuugi's second-floor bedroom glimmering ahead of her, and all the rest of the tension flowed out of her. Just seeing that meant safety and warmth and a listening ear. All three of those were _extraordinarily_ appealing at the moment. She wrapped her jacket a little more closely around herself as she hurried along, her breath steaming out in front of her. _I hope he has something hot to drink._ Yuugi made the best hot chocolate she'd ever run across. She had no idea what he did to make it so much better than any other she had, but it was absolutely wonderful.

Yuugi opened the door as she came up, not even waiting for her to knock, and motioned her in. "Come on, it's cold out there!"

"Yeah, I noticed that," she panted slightly, trying to get a little of her warmer breath on her hands. Gloves. She really needed to get some new gloves. Once she got her paycheck, she was going to have to do that. Her dance school fund could spare the yen for it. Even if it couldn't, she was going to get them. "Thanks for letting me come over, Yuugi."

The smaller boy just shrugged and smiled as he led the way into the warmly lit kitchen. "You can come over whenever you want, you know. You didn't have to ask." He stopped by the stove and looked over at her, one eyebrow quirked some. "Did you want some hot chocolate?"

"Yes!" She gasped the word out, glad that Yuugi knew her so well. "Please!" She flushed a little as he grinned at her before he took out a pot and began to run water into it. She shifted a little, watching him, then removed her jacket and draped it over the back of the chair as she sat down. The kitchen was every bit as warm as she'd imagined it would be on the way over here. It absolutely made walking through the chill worth every frozen step and terrified breath. "I hadn't really meant to ask when I called you. I was just going to talk to you about it on the phone, and then I...I just wanted to do it in person."

Yuugi nodded, doing arcane things she couldn't have explained if she'd wanted to, or even known what it was he was doing in the first place. Cooking had never been her strong suite, not even something as mundane as making hot chocolate. She could possibly do so if it came from a mix, but other than that, she was hopeless in the kitchen. "So what's the problem?"

"I'm not even sure if it _is_ a problem, actually," she said. The warmth seeped slowly into her, replacing the cold efficiently. She was going to have to struggle to remain awake after all of this. The last thing she wanted to do was fall asleep in Yuugi's kitchen, whether or not she explained things to him first. "There's just been something going on. It's a little weird." She watched him as he moved about confidantly. He had certainly changed from who he had been when they'd first met. It was an alteration she welcomed, too. As much as she'd enjoyed looking out for him, it was good to see him grow up and into his own person. Atemu would have approved. _Had_ approved, at the end. She did, too.

She straightened up in the chair a little and started again, forcing herself to say the words, no matter what might come of them. "I think Honda likes me. I mean, _likes_ me." It sounded a little strange to say it like that, but it was out in the open now.

Yuugi turned a bit to look at her, and she was almost certain he was _grinning_. "So what makes you think that?" Did he know? Had they _all_ been talking about it? Was this some kind of a joke the guys had been playing on her for working at a chocolate store during Valentine's Day? They'd _so_ pay if it was!

"Well, he's been walking me home every night after work." She ticked the points off on her fingers carefully. If it were a joke, Yuugi would give it away before too long. He could never keep a secret like _that_, especially not around her. "He's always bought us something to eat every time, too. First night it was ramen." Her eyes sparked in memory; she knew that _she_ knew all of her friends' favorite foods, or at least had a rough idea of them. But Honda had never seemed to take that much notice of people, or of her at least. What was his, anyway? She couldn't recall offhand, only a faint feeling of being revolted by it. She decided to work it out later. This was more important right now.

She could see Yuugi watching, even as he mixed in the chocolate powder, and kept going. "He wasn't really honest, though. He said he was there because his cram school got out a little before I got off work so he wanted to be company for me on the way home. But he wasn't really going there. He never had any books, and when I confronted him about it, he admitted it, and said something weird about Jounouchi and romance." Anzu shook her head; that still baffled her some. She would have to bring it up to Mai if she saw her again. Maybe _she_ could straighten Jounouchi out on some things.

"Was that all he said?" Yuugi asked, setting a cup of steaming hot chocolate before her. She picked it up and sipped carefully, thinking. The drink tasted delicious, just what she wanted at the moment.

"No, he did say that I was pretty," she recalled. She didn't want to remember quite how he'd said it right away. That had been bad enough. He had meant well, at least she hoped he had, so it was okay not to be entirely honest this time. "And that he'd see me later." Later would probably be tomorrow, since she worked then again. At least she hoped it would be.

Yuugi settled down into one of the other chairs, his own mug in his hands. "I don't know if I'm really the right person for you to talk to about this, Anzu," he told her, blushing softly. It made him look a little like how he had before the Puzzle and the Pharaoh and everything else had come into their lives. Just a little, though.

"You're my best friend, Yuugi," Anzu reminded him. "I can't think of anyone else that I'd rather talk to about it."

They were both quiet for a few more minutes, each sipping at their hot chocolate. Anzu tried to get her thoughts into more order as she did so. _I hope this is a good idea, talking to Yuugi._ She did want to talk to him about this, and everything else, but second thoughts had begun to circle around her now that it had actually begun to happen. He'd had that crush on her for the longest time. What if he still felt that way? What if this were hurting him to hear? She'd already hurt him some by caring about Atemu before they knew more than the most basic of things about him. Was she going to hurt him again by liking one of his best friends?

"You've probably already thought about this," Yuugi said finally, "but do you like him? I mean, I know you _like_ him, but do you **like** him?"

She smiled a little ruefully. If Yuugi _were_ hurt, then he was doing a very good job of hiding it. She was going to try to find out before this was done, though. "I was thinking about that before I called you." They didn't always think alike, but it was fun when they did.

"Well?" Yuugi looked almost as eager to hear her answer as she was herself.

_Well, do I?_ She'd thought it over at her place and hadn't come to any decisions. Was it going to be any different now that she was here? _Do I like Honda Hiroto as more than a friend?_ All of the good and the bad of hanging out with him came rushing in on her mind almost at once. It would be different to date him. Just how different she couldn't really think of just yet. As far as she knew, he hadn't gone out with anyone in the whole time she'd known him. Whenever he'd liked someone, she'd turned him down.

Could she do that to him? Even if it didn't work out, they'd still be friends. It wasn't as if she were being told she had to marry him or something like that. Just because Valentine's Day was coming up didn't mean it was going to be _forever_. They already had a bond that would last that long. This would just be a different type of thread in the weave, to put it one way.

"Yeah," she said at last. However long it lasted, it wouldn't last anytime at all if she didn't take that first step. It was one she _wanted_ to take, too. It didn't seem to matter all of a sudden that he'd not told her the truth. It just mattered that he'd walked home with her, and bought her ramen, and talked with her, and laughed with her, and was going to be there again to do it, no matter what. "Yeah, I do."

**To Be Continued**


	7. Adventures of Life

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Story Title:** This Time, It's Me  
**Chapter Title:** Adventures of Life  
**Story Word Count:** 26,605  
**Chapter Word Count:** 3,831  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Romance:** Honda x Anzu  
**Notes:** This takes place a few months after the Ceremonial Duel, in the closing weeks of their third year of high school. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**Summary:** As Valentine's Day draws near, Anzu wavers between just sticking to her obligations, or stepping away to follow the call of her heart.

* * *

Once the words were said, Anzu was almost surprised by how things eased inside of her. She _did_ like Honda. She couldn't quite get her mind around calling him Hiroto just yet, but she supposed that would probably come in time, once he said she could do so, at least. The habits of years were a little hard to break. The only one of her friends she was used to calling by his given name _was_ sitting right across from her, after all.

Yuugi smiled brilliantly at her. "Now all you've got to do is tell him!"

That made sense, and she brought up a smile carefully. It made sense, but that wasn't going to be easy to do, especially not after everything that had happened earlier. "I know." She glanced briefly at the phone, and frowned to herself. No, calling him up wouldn't do. Just like this conversation with Yuugi, she wanted to tell Honda this in person. There was no way to tell how he'd react. At least she didn't have to keep wondering what it was that was bothering him. She knew.

Yuugi leaned back and sipped at his chocolate before he looked at her for a quiet minute or so. "I've kind of missed talking to you," he said at last.

"I've missed the same thing," she told him, going a trifle pink. "It's just been...so much going on." The time had just slipped away from them both, she surmised. Yuugi nodded slightly.

"I hope once all of this is done with, we can try to hang out a little more, for a while, anyway," he suggested, waving a hand about. She knew, in that way that best friends know things, that he meant school and everything else that went along with it with that gesture. She nodded in her own turn.

"I think we can. I hope so, anyway." The thought of the Julliard letter crossed her mind again, but she pushed it away. She'd read it only once, and hadn't wanted to touch it since then. She wasn't going to let it get her down. She _hadn't_ been letting it get her down. But maybe it was time she did say something about it. Who better to talk to than Yuugi, either?

She felt a light brush of fingers across her hand, and looked over to see him touching the back of her hand gently. "Something's on your mind, Anzu," he said, his eyes gleaming in that knowing way. Sometimes it made him look just a little like Atemu like that. It was almost scary, even with how well she knew him. _Now he knows when I want to say something and don't._ The contrast to how he was now and how he'd been even a year or two ago was startling. "Please tell me."

The answer came spilling out of her without another moment of thought. Yuugi had that effect on her sometimes. He could get into the most secret parts of her with barely an effort. "I applied to Julliard a few months ago. Almost right after we got back from Egypt, actually. I..." She clenched her fingers around the hot cup, ignoring the faint burning. It wasn't really enough to hurt anyway, not as she got used to it, but it gave her something else to think about other than what she was talking about.

Somewhere deep inside of herself, she was grateful that Yuugi didn't jump to any conclusions about what their answer had been. She said it slowly and carefully. "I didn't get in." For the first time, she said the words. She had never said them to her parents; she'd only shown them the letter, and they'd done their best to reassure her. Saying them out loud would have made things _too_ real, _too_ horrible, and they were like that enough just with the letter itself.

"Why didn't you say anything sooner?" Yuugi asked quietly. There wasn't a thread of anger or sadness or anything in his voice, just honest curiosity. She didn't know for certain if she wanted to hug him for that or smack him. Instead, she answered the question.

"There were a lot of reasons. You had other things to worry about just then," she said. It had been so close still to what had happened, and she couldn't forget how deeply Yuugi had been affected by Atemu's departure. Telling him then just wouldn't have been right. Telling anyone wouldn't have been. "Everyone else...they did too..." Part of why she'd applied then had been because of her own feelings over the Pharaoh's absence as well. That, she didn't really feel like saying just yet, at least not out loud. But she knew the reasons that had been whispered within her own heart.

_I wanted to do what I'd told him to do. What he did. Face my choices, my destiny head on and grab them, and even if I failed, to know it wasn't because I didn't try._

The problem was, she hadn't really wanted to fail. She'd wanted to get that letter back and be told that she would be starting with them in a few months' time. Seeing that rejection staring her in the face had shattered something inside of her. She had no idea of what it was, only that the thought of trying again had been something haunting her for months. She hadn't ever cried herself to sleep about it, but the ache had taken months to ease so she didn't want to anymore. If she found any dampness on her pillow in the morning, she told herself it was just sweat. The season and the temperature didn't matter. Convincing herself did.

"It's all right, Anzu," Yuugi told her simply, complete faith filling his tone. Just hearing how much he believed in her made her believe in herself a little more. "You can try again."

"I know." She stared down at the cup still, then drank a little more. It was almost gone, and she wondered if she wanted another cup, to shore her up against the walk home in the cold. She didn't want to look and see what the weather was like right now. It might scare her from going home, at least for now. "I want to. I know I will, someday, and I'm going to keep on working and saving until I either get what I want, or find something else I want that I can get. I'm not going to _quit_!" Fierceness edged her tones as she jerked her head up to look him in the eyes for a moment before she turned away again. "I just don't know why I feel so bad about failing now."

Yuugi frowned carefully as he thought the matter over. "I don't know either. But what matters is not quitting about it." He looked at her calmly. "I think you might want to tell Honda about it. Maybe he'll know something. Or at least you'll have someone else to talk to about it."

She tapped her cup on the table a few times. "Maybe." It might give some kind of starting point for a talk with him anyway. She finished off the last of the hot chocolate, and caught sight of the clock. "Oh, _damn it_!" She swore fiercely. She hadn't realized just how late it was getting. At least this was Friday, which meant she could delay her homework for a little while. She wanted to get some rest, first and foremost. "I need to get home! It's getting late, and it was already cold out there, and it could start snowing!"

Yuugi stood up and came over to her side of the table. "I can walk you home if you want."

Anzu opened her mouth, not quite certain of what to say at first, then heard herself saying something anyway. "All right. Thanks!"

Well, it would be more interesting to have someone to talk to. She already knew that from her walks home with Honda. It had also been too long since she and Yuugi had really went anywhere together. While Yuugi went to tell his grandfather where he was going, and to get his jacket, she tugged her own back on and zipped it up as tightly as she could. _I'll be **so** glad when spring gets here._

Despite the chill outside she knew they were going back into, Anzu could feel a strange new warmth rising up inside of her. It was made of equal parts relief at having told Yuugi about the letter and anticipation at having finally realized she did like Honda a little more than everyone else and in a very different kind of way from everyone else at that. It might all be in her mind, but it didn't matter. After all, emotions were in the mind, and the heart, so it was all the same thing in the end anyway.

"Are you ready?" Yuugi popped back in, wrapped up warmly, and headed for the door as she nodded. Together, they headed out into the cold streets.

Those turned out to be very cold and snowy streets, for thick white flakes had begun to fall while they'd been talking to one another. Anzu shivered as they went farther and farther. "I knew this was coming," she muttered. "And it would come on _Friday night_, too." Domino High had begun to phase out the half-day of school on Saturdays, which meant they wouldn't even be getting out of classes for this kind of weather. Of course they also wouldn't have classes to start with, so it was much the same regardless. But it was more fun to get out of them than to not have them.

Yuugi shivered some and huddled more into his jacket. "Well, at least we've got the weekend to enjoy it," he reminded her, looking more on the bright side of things as he always tended to do. "It would be horrible if we had school anyway and this was happening."

"Yeah, you're right." She nodded as she carefully placed her feet, not wanting to slip and fall on the ice. "Are you going to be all right walking home by yourself?" Maybe she should've told him not to bother, that she could manage this on her own. The last thing she wanted to do was get him hurt because she was bothered by a little snow and cold.

He flashed her his usual bright smile. "I'll be fine. It's not that bad, really. The buses are still going, too, so if I have to I can just get one of those. There's a stop not all that far from your place, right?"

Anzu nodded slightly; it would take him a little out of his way to get to the bus station from her house, but it would get him back home safely. She still didn't like it, though. She knew the public transporation system was safe, but that wasn't part of her objection. _I should've asked if he'd stay the night. I still could._ They were already a decent distance from the Game Shop, though, and Yuugi wouldn't have anything to wear, tonight or tomorrow. She very much doubted that he would accept anything that she had to offer from her own closets. His tastes ran a little more towards leather, whereas she preferred clothes that were somewhat more normal. Not to mention that she didn't really have any pants that he could wear. The few she did have were just too big for him. _Well, next time I'll think about it more_, she told herself sternly.

As they made their way, a familiar noise sounded, and Anzu looked around a little. She'd hoped that she wouldn't have to put up with this on the way back, but apparently she was wrong. "Yuugi, do you hear that motorcycle or am I imagining things?"

He lifted his head a little and checked things out as well. "Yeah. It's probably just someone going home late." She wasn't as ready to dismiss it as he was, though, not after what had happened earlier. It was just too much of a coincidence for her tastes.

"Yeah...but I heard one on the way over to your place, too." She hadn't walked between the two houses enough at night to know how many cycles might possibly pass between them then. But if Yuugi thought there was nothing unusual about it...she didn't _want_ to be paranoid, not really...

"I don't usually hear too many of them this time of night," he said thoughtfully. "But I'm not usually listening, either." He looked around as far as he could in every direction and shook his head. "I can't see it, though. Whoever it is, they're probably a couple of streets over."

Anzu nodded; it really couldn't be that much to worry about. If she didn't want to be paranoid, then she wasn't going to _be_ paranoid, and that was it. Something about the sound, how it didn't seem to be going all _that_ fast, just struck at something inside of her, no matter what she told herself, though. "Someone could've gotten it for a present and just be trying it out?" she suggested. After all, it made sense to go somewhat slow in weather like this. She wanted to be reasonable. There had to be a line between paranoia and simple caution. It wouldn't be wrong to keep an eye out. If there was a cyclist in the area, if they moved too quickly or weren't a very good driver yet, then they could get into an accident. At this time of night, and in these conditions, that could be fatal.

"Probably." Yuugi nodded and carefully moved around a patch of ice. She avoided the same one, and looked to see just where they were. It wasn't all that far from her place now. Perhaps once they got in sight of it, she'd tell him he could go on back, and not have to walk the whole way. The less time either of them were out in this weather, the better. He might even agree with her. Given that this was Yuugi, almost anything was possible.

Neither of them said all that much as they turned the last corner before her home. Yuugi paused when she did, and looked up at her. "Anzu?" She expected that he was expecting her to say he could go on back now, and didn't disappoint him.

"Yuugi, I can see my place from here. You should get back home and get inside where it's warm. You don't have to come all the way." She said it almost the same way that she had been thinking it, and _really_ hoped the worst either of them would have to face would be slipping on some ice before they got to their respective homes. She would have to have him call once he got there, so she'd be certain he'd made it safe and sound. She worried about him no matter what, but it was better not to have a reason to.

He looked at her, then at her house, and back at her, a soft smile on his lips. "That's all right, Anzu. I don't mind going all the way. I'd rather be sure _you_ were there safely anyway."

She hesitated for a moment or two, then nodded reluctantly. There wasn't really any way that she could make him go back by force anyway, and she didn't feel up to trying to argue about it. Having company all the way wasn't that bad of an idea, either. She'd read somewhere about a lot of accidents taking place in or near one's home after all. She couldn't think of much that Yuugi could really _do_ to help if something did happen, beyond getting help, but if that was all that was necessary, then so be it. "Then let's go."

They'd barely taken ten more steps before Anzu regretted not having made some kind of arrangement for Yuugi's safe return home. _I should've **thought** about it!_ The snow thickened with every moment that passed, with ice building up on the sidewalks quickly. It was the next thing to impossible to see more than a very short distance ahead of them at any given moment, and before they made it up to her home, even that distance had been reduced to almost nothing. She was glad they had been so close before it got like this. If they'd been much farther off, she would't have been certain they could have made it back in one piece.

"I'm not going to let you back out in _that_!" Anzu declared as they stood before her door, stamping their feet from the snow and ice. "My mom would kill me, my dad would kill me, your grandpa would kill me..." She didn't even want to think what Atemu would do if she did that. She'd be lucky to _be_ killed, no matter how far he had to travel from the afterlife to do it. She had no doubts that he would or could, too.

Yuugi looked out at it, frowning. "I think you're right. I should probably call my grandpa and let him know what's going on."

"Right." She motioned him towards the phone while she went to talk to her parents. They wouldn't mind Yuugi staying the night. At least she hoped they wouldn't. "Mom? Dad? I've got a really big favor to ask you."

Half an hour later, with permission given and the appropriate phone calls made, Yuugi and Anzu were comfortably ensconced in her room. "Mom'll have some pajamas ready for you shortly," Anzu said. "I think she's looking forward to looking through some of my dad's old things." Her father wasn't quite as short as Yuugi was, but they would manage something, she was sure of it.

Yuugi nodded some; Mrs. Mazaki had been searching for something for him for almost fifteen minutes now. "That's very nice of her."

Anzu nodded in her own turn, her gaze flickering around the room. She hadn't ever had that many people over there, and it was a very odd experience to have someone there now, even with that someone being Yuugi. _So, what would I be feeling if it were Honda here?_ The question wandered around in her mind without any kind of answer for a few moments before settling into a back nook to return when she wasn't looking. Thoughts of Honda were like that, springing on one like some kind of odd ninja.

"Do you have to work tomorrow?" Yuugi asked, drawing her attention back to him instead of her own thoughts. She thought for a moment, then nodded.

"At least I think I do. I don't think she'll close because of the weather," she replied, glancing over at the phone. "I'll call her in the morning when she opens up and find out." She kind of hoped she would. It would give her a better chance of seeing Honda. _I'll have to tell him when I get a day off. Or when the job's done._

The thought of not going to work anymore was attractive to a point, but if it meant giving up walking with Honda every work evening, she wasn't certain if she wanted to bother. _There are other things we could do together, though._ She and Ms. Tanaka hadn't really discussed her position past Valentine's Day, and she wanted to talk about that as soon as she could. It hadn't really been very much implied that it was a temporary job, but Ms. Tanaka had indicated she wanted the extra help for the Valentine season, such as it was.

"It's kind of weird to think in a couple of months we won't even be in high school anymore," Yuugi murmured. "It's like the last three years just vanished."

"Yeah. Almost feels like just yesterday we were starting high school and you hadn't even finished the Puzzle yet." Anzu froze almost as she heard the words. Of all the things they hadn't talked about, this was one she'd wanted to be more careful about bringing up.

Yuugi didn't seem to be all that bothered by it, however. He just smiled. "I know." His gaze flickered out of the window briefly, then back to her. "I miss him. I think I always will."

"So do I," Anzu replied almost as quietly as he had. Atemu had been a part of their lives for such a short time, really, but that time had been _intense_. "Do you think he's...happy?"

"I know he is," Yuugi said firmly, confidence shining from his eyes. "He's where he belongs. He's done what he was born to do." His eyes met hers only for a few moments, then he looked away again. Anzu had a feeling she knew what was going through his mind, but said nothing about it. Maybes and might-have-beens in this situation could only hurt if they thought about it long enough. "And I'll see him again someday. I'm sure of it."

Anzu nodded, not sure if Yuugi was right or not, but she hoped that he was. Before she could say anything else, however, a yawn caught her firmly and she covered her mouth, flushing slightly. "I think I need to get to bed, Yuugi. It's been a very long day." She knew she hadn't talked to him about how _he_ felt about her and Honda's relationship, but she knew she would, when the time was right. The fact he was supporting it had to mean something good.

"You're right." Yuugi nodded and stood up. "I'll go see if your mother's found anything. See you in the morning."

He hurried on out of the room, closing the door behind himself quietly. Anzu stayed where she was for a few minutes, trying to get herself together enough to actually get up and get ready for bed. When she finally stood, she caught sight of a particular photo beside her bed. It wasn't all of her friends, but it did show herself, Honda, Jounouchi, Bakura, and Yuugi. It had been taken shortly after Bakura had arrived in Domino City and they'd all had that first experience with the Spirit of the Millennium Ring. She picked up the picture and looked at it for a few moments. The diorama Bakura had made to symbolize all of their adventures in Monster World was visible on a shelf behind them. _That was when we all really **met** the other Yuugi face to face. If you could call it that._

The adventures they were facing now weren't anything like those. They were the adventures of life, not magic. But she was all right with that. She looked at where Honda stood next to her in the picture, with Jounouchi on his other side, and Yuugi on hers. _I'm going to talk to him tomorrow_, she reminded herself. _We're going to work this out._

**To Be Continued**


	8. Can't Get You Off My Mind

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Story Title:** This Time, It's Me  
**Chapter Title:** Can't Get You Off My Mind  
**Story Word Count:** 30,317  
**Chapter Word Count:** 3,712  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Romance:** Honda x Anzu  
**Notes:** This takes place a few months after the Ceremonial Duel, in the closing weeks of their third year of high school. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**Summary:** As Valentine's Day draws near, Anzu wavers between just sticking to her obligations, or stepping away to follow the call of her heart.

* * *

She did have to work the next day. Every time the bell over the door rang during her shift, she looked up, almost expecting each time to see a tall, dark-haired, and very familiar person coming through the door. Twice, someone who was tall and dark did come through, and she supposed they were handsome enough, if not really her type. Unfortunately, both times it was someone she didn't know, and one of the two times, it was a woman, not a man, anyway.

She told herself over and over to stop fretting about it. Honda would be there that night when she got off work. He hadn't missed once, and she didn't think his little confession, such as it was, the night before would have changed things all that much. He hadn't said specifically that would be there _that_ day, but he hadn't missed any other day that she was at work. This couldn't be any different.

She hoped not, at least. _What if he did change his mind? Or thinks I don't want him to do it anymore?_ Anzu was the best there was at building up worrisome scenes in her mind. It gave her something to do between customers.

Speaking of customers, considering the weather the night before, she was almost surprised there were some still coming in. But come in they did. She shifted a little on the stool behind the cash register and watched as the students poured in and poured back out once they'd bought however many packages of chocolate they needed or wanted. Some of them, she thought, came in not to browse, or at least not _just_ to browse, but to get away from the still chilly temperatures outside. She couldn't blame t hem. She would do the same thing herself, if she wasn't sitting in here where it was reasonably warm.

Anzu made a note to call Yuugi as soon as she went on her break and see how he was doing. He'd went home that morning, bundled up the best that they could provide for him, after breakfast. _I should've had Mom or Dad drive him_. Yuugi wouldn't have allowed it, though. It was hard to remember, but he could be quite the stubborn guy when he put his mind to it, and he refused to put anyone to any kind of trouble whatsoever.

The snowfall hadn't lasted more than a few hours, and the city crews had cleaned up most of it in the business district already. Anzu wasn't all that worried about walking home in what was left, whether or not Honda was with her. The report she'd caught on the small television in the break room had said that the crews would be moving to the residential sections soon, after all. The clouds had cleared off shortly before morning, and now the sky arched overhead, a brittle kind of blue innocent of anything even resembling a cloud. That was probably why so many people were out and about as well. It was actually somewhat pretty to walk in, if one was properly dressed.

With Valentine's Day now a scant two weeks away, more people were buying the obligation chocolates that Anzu and Ms. Tanaka had begun to display a few days earlier. Anzu recognized several of the customers who had browsed shortly after she had started to work there, now back for their actual purchases, among them the two girls who had virtually drooled over meeting Mai on her first day there. Mai herself hadn't shown up, but Anzu suspected she'd hear something from her sooner or later, if only by Jounouchi's reaction come the day itself.

She handed another bag of chocolates over to their temporary owner and smiled as she waved them out of the store. "Be careful out there," she added, as she often had that day. "Don't fall in the snow."

"But that's _fun_!" a young boy of about thirteen or so declared. The taller blonde girl he was with, who looked to be a couple of years older, shook her head.

"You'd think that, wouldn't you?" she chuckled, amused, as she looked through some of the packages. "I don't think I've ever seen someone who likes the ice and snow as much as he does."

Anzu grinned at her. "I can't stand it myself. It's so much _nicer_ in the spring and summer." She glanced over what the girl was looking through. "Looking for something in particular for someone?" She'd forgotten how many times she'd asked that question since she'd started this job.

"I've thought about making it myself, actually," the blonde blushed briefly. "I mean..."

Anzu nodded, recognizing the signs after all the times she'd seen similar expressions. "We do have the makings for homemade over here," she motioned to one part of the store. It wasn't something they sold too much of, since grocery stores held the bulk of what one needed for homemade chocolates, but Ms. Tanaka believed in having almost anything the chocolate or sweet consuming customer might want.

Once that particular customer was satisfied and out on her way again, with a bag full of what was necessary to make a delicious chocolate fudge, Anzu settled back on the stool and closed her eyes for a few seconds. Ms. Tanaka had taken a short shift that morning, and now the afternoon was entirely under Anzu's jurisdiction. Close to six, the other full time worker, Matsuo Kiku, would come in to take over until it was closing time. Anzu glanced at the clock; there were still two more hours until then. She could manage this.

This little respite wouldn't last long, she knew. It would be maybe five minutes, maybe so much as ten before someone else came in. She could see some other people about her age milling around in the streets, talking and laughing and having a good time. As much of an annoyance as it had been to be out when the snow came down the night before, now it was great to be out in.

_I bet Yuugi's already out playing in it._ She wouldn't put it past him. He and Jounouchi were probably having a snowball fight. Maybe Honda was even going to join in. She hoped Bakura would. She toyed with the idea of snow in his pale white hair, and chuckled a little. That would be kind of cute. Even better, it would be fun to see some of it in Otogi's black hair. The contrast would be unutterably wonderful. _If I see him, I'll have to do that._ His reaction would be hilarious, too. He had to be one of the vainest people she knew, and to see him dealing with snow-melt in his carefully tended hair would be priceless.

Her mind wandered back almost as if it had been trained to do so, wrapping itself around the image of Honda in the snow. The last winter hadn't delivered too much in the way of snow, so she had an idea all of her friends were going to make up for the lost time. Not to mention, _last_ winter, they'd had a lot of other things on their mind.

It had been kind of fun, and romantic, walking home with Honda in the dark night after night. So what would it be like to walk home with him in the snow-covered afternoon? Tiny thrills of excitement at the thought shivered all through her. She'd be finding out soon, if all went well.

Had she told him when she got off, since it would be a couple of hours earlier than she normally did? She couldn't remember. Then again, she'd never told him when she got off in the first place, but he had still been there. _And all those other times he hadn't said he liked me._ She wanted to hit herself for how she'd reacted the night before, or hit him for not telling her his reasons in the first place. She needed something to take her mind off of this again. Where was a customer when she really needed one?

The bell rang again, and she quickly looked up, a faint whisper of thanks to whoever it was that had deigned to send business her way at that so perfect moment murmuring through her mind. Her customer-smile appeared quickly and she sat up a little straighter, ready for anything. That smile was there only for as long as it took for her to realize who was actually standing there, then she went as rigid and blank as she possibly could without actually turning into a statue of iron and ice.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" The words came out just as they had for other customers, but without any of the usual warmth Anzu managed to dredge up for almost anyone. There were few people that she held _more_ dislike for than who stood there right now.

Fukazawa Junko smiled thinly at her. "I highly doubt it. But thank you for asking." The insincerity dripped off the words, and Anzu clenched her fists just a little. Fukazawa had never actively done anything to her, or any of her friends, that she knew about anyway, but Anzu didn't like her anyway. There was something so patently _artificial_ about her that she made Anzu's skin crawl just by the fact she existed. She always wore her school uniforms cut a little more risque than the regulations demanded, and if any teacher made her change it, she would comply: for a few days, until they stopped watching her. Then she was back to the too-high skirt and the too-tight blouse all over again.

She slowly prowled through the store, taking her time to examine each and every display with a critical eye. Anzu kept her attention divided between her and the door, and hoped with all of her heart that someone, anyone would come in that she could help. She needed some excuse not to talk to Fukazawa, and she would almost take _Kaiba_ showing up, or for that matter, the Spirit of the Ring, if that had even been possible. She _might_ almost have welcomed Kokorano!

Well, maybe not him.

"So this is where you've been keeping yourself lately." Fukazawa strolled up to the counter and leaned on it, grinning at her. "I wondered where you'd been vanishing off to. Are you _legal_ this time?"

Anzu couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes. Trust Fukazawa to bring up the times she hadn't had permission to work and had done so anyway. "Yes." Maybe if she kept her answers short, she would keep herself from strangling the other girl. The odds were against it, but she wasn't going to lose this job to her annoyance.

"Hm. Well, I suppose you're going to have to do _something_ with yourself once school's done with. It's not like you've got that much talent for a whole lot." Fukazawa turned a little, pulled a Duel Monsters deck out of her purse, and began to shuffle it. Anzu didn't even try to catch a glimpse of the cards. She hadn't known the other girl dueled, but she could predict the strategy from where she stood, without ever having seen her play. _I'll bet anything it's lots of cards that control her opponent's monsters and make them do whatever she wants. That's her style. Manipulation._

Anzu slid her hands out of sight behind the counter and clenched them into fists as unobtrusively as she could. Any other time, the store would be crowded with people, but right now when she wanted someone else she could pay attention to, there was no one there. _I am not losing this job because of her._

"If you're not going to buy anything, I'm going to have to ask that you leave," she finally said, keeping her tone as quiet and calm as possible. She had no idea she was capable of restraint like this. It couldn't last forever. If Fukazawa didn't leave, soon, then it was going to vanish faster than she thought.

"But I _am_ going to buy something. I'm just not buying it right now," the other girl grinned mischievously at her, a hint of malice in her dark eyes. Anzu ground her teeth a little and focused her attention on the door again. _Come on, Jounouchi. Yuugi. Bakura. __**Anyone**__._ It was too much to hope that Honda would show up. That was the kind of thing for children's stories, not reality.

Fukazawa shuffled a little before she looked back up at Anzu. "I don't suppose you've got a deck? We could have a _friendly_ little duel. No need for Duel Disks or anything."

"Sorry, I'm working," Anzu replied stiffly. She did have a deck, though she hadn't played in months. When she did, it was usually just the occasional pick up game with one of her friends, and most of the time it was because Jounouchi or Yuugi wanted to test out some new strategy with her help.

"If that's the case, could you call up that short little friend of yours and let him know I'm in the mood for a duel?" Fukazawa ran her hand over her deck in a fashion that did not imply surrender in any kind of a way: at least not hers.

"Yuugi's busy. Maybe you can enter the next tournament and see if you can run across him there." Anzu would almost pay money to watch that duel. Yuugi would probably wipe her out in three turns or less.

"But I don't _want_ to wait for a tournament," Fukazawa whined playfully. "I want to have him now. I mean, play him now." The innuendo in her voice was thick enough to spread on toast.

Anzu rolled her eyes. "Can I interest you in some of our chocolate?" she said, wanting Fukazawa gone. The sooner she got whatever it was she wanted and left, the better.

"Now that I think about it, I don't think I _will_ get anything from here. I think I'm going to make my own this year. Nothing but _homemade_ for a duelist of Yuugi's caliber. I'm sure you're doing the same thing, aren't you?" Fukazawa leaned a little more closely to Anzu. "Or is it just the obligation chocolate for you and him again? Just friends, right?"

Anzu's fists tightened until she could feel her nails biting into her palms. "Have a nice day, ma'am."

Fukazawa delivered a slow smirk, then put her deck away and strolled out of the store. She took her time exiting, making certain to let the door stand open as she did so. Cold winds blew in, stirring Anzu's hair and setting her to shiver on her stool. When the door close at last, Anzu closed her eyes and breathed out a sigh of relief that she was gone.

_I feel like I should mop the floor or something to make sure she didn't leave any kind of a slime-trail._ It wasn't the nicest thing to think about someone, but as it was Fukazawa, Anzu didn't care very much. She sipped a little at the green tea she'd picked up on her lunch break and tried to think more pleasant thoughts. _Let's see, there was the time I was held hostage by that prisoner, and then there was being trapped in the evil Spirit's Monster World game..._

Just thinking of those times put her in a better mood, mainly because those adventures had happened with at least one of her friends around. Thinking about them always made her feel better. She relaxed to the point she didn't mind at all when the door opened again, letting in another chilly breeze, along with another group of teenage customers. Thankfully they didn't leave the door open very long, and she was ready to serve them before they'd taken more than two steps inside.

_What __**did**__ she really want, though?_ Fukazawa's visit wasn't as pleasant to think about as Honda was, but it was just as hard to get out of her head, even with thoughts of her friends to battle it with. _If she really does give some homemade candy to Yuugi, I'd better make sure he checks it for extra ingredients._ She didn't believe in love potions, not even after everything she'd seen happen, but better safe than dating Fukazawa.

The time crept by, and at last Matsuo was there to relieve her. Unlike Ms. Tanaka, who was tall and willowy and in her thirties, Matsuo was maybe five years older than Anzu herself, short and a little dumpy, but with a wicked sense of humor. Anzu hadn't spent enough time with her to know much more than that about her.

"See you around, Mazaki," Matsuo told her as she took Anzu's place behind the counter. Anzu nodded, tugging her jacket around herself a little more. "And be careful, it's still cold out there."

"I know, I know. I was out in it last night, and it was awful!" Anzu declared. She tried not to look too hard outside. If he was there, he was there. She waved briefly, then left, keeping her attention firmly in front of her.

She'd barely taken five steps down the sidewalk before a familiar form fell into place beside her. "Hope you don't mind if I walk you home," Honda said gruffly. She glanced up at him for a moment, then away again.

"And if I said I do mind?"

He didn't miss a step. "Then I'd leave."

"Good thing I don't mind then, isn't it?" She looked back up again, a warm smile curving her lips. He looked down at her, and a smile appeared on him as well. "Decided not to lie anymore, hm?"

Honda shrugged casually, as if it didn't mean that much to him, and didn't appear to notice his own hand touching where she'd hit him the night before. "It's not worth the pain."

She laughed; there was no way she could've stopped herself from laughing. "I'm sorry about that. I really am. I was just...angry." She'd lost a job for doing that to someone, but she'd never regretted that like she did what she'd done the night before.

"I noticed." His lips parted again as if he were going to say something else, but nothing came out at first. Then he asked, "Did you want to stop for something? The ramen place has a special going on the weekends."

That did sound good. "Sure. We can maybe stop in the park and eat? My parents won't mind if I'm a little late. I can call them if I have to." It was the first time either of them had suggested a variation in the routine of walking together. Normally all she wanted to do was get home and rest before starting on the necessities of homework, but this was the weekend. Doing something different was more than permissible, it was generally expected.

"All right." Honda's reply wasn't quite as quick as she might have expected, and the thought she had taken him by surprise was a fairly pleasing one. She snickered to herself. It wasn't every day that someone could pull that off with him. "Let's get some drinks, too, then."

She had a feeling they wouldn't be staying in the park all that long. It _was_ more than a little nippy. In fact, now that she thought about it, something else, or rather, some_where_ else would be a lot better. "Instead of getting the ramen, why don't we stop at that coffee shop on the corner?" she suggested. "We can get in out of the cold. I had enough of that last night."

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Honda shivered, despite the warm coat he had on. "I wasn't too thrilled about sitting on one of those cold park benches, really."

"So why didn't you say something when I suggested it?" she teased, and enjoyed the look he shot her. She liked having fun with him like this. It felt natural. It felt like it was something she should really try to do more often.

Since the corner coffee shop was at least half a block closer than the ramen stand, they were out of the chill fairly soon. Anzu checked the time before going in, and decided she didn't need to call her parents just yet. If they stayed here too long, she would, though. She tried not to worry them too much if she could help it. _I wonder what they'll think if Honda and I do start dating._ That was a mental topic she steered herself away from quickly. Too soon for that, _way_ too soon.

Several other people had obviously had the same idea that she and Honda had, as the evidence of a long line and not that many free seats in the shop showed. It was still warm inside, and once they'd stamped what little snow and ice had clung to their boots off, it wasn't that much of a bother to wait in line for drinks and some of the small servings of food this place provided. By then, enough people had cleared out so they were able to secure a table near a window. It provided a relatively clear view of the streets outside, and the ambient conversation meant no one would be paying that much attention to them.

Anzu settled down in the chair and sighed, stretching at the same time. "Today was the closest to a nightmare it's been there," she said, enjoying being off her feet and not having to deal with customers at the same time. She didn't want to say anything about Fukazawa being there. It wasn't worth it right now. "I'm glad I don't have to go back for a few days."

Honda nodded a little, then dropped his gaze from her to the drink in front of him. His fingers flexed around the cup nervously, and she wondered if he were going to say anything about what else had happened the night before or if it were going to be up to her. "Anzu," he finally said. "I think we need to talk."

"Yeah." She nodded briefly. "I think we do."

**To Be Continued**


	9. Getting To Know You

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Story Title:** This Time, It's Me  
**Chapter Title:** Getting To Know You  
**Story Word Count:** 34,116  
**Chapter Word Count:** 3,799  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Romance:** Honda x Anzu  
**Notes:** This takes place a few months after the Ceremonial Duel, in the closing weeks of their third year of high school. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**Summary:** As Valentine's Day draws near, Anzu wavers between just sticking to her obligations, or stepping away to follow the call of her heart.

* * *

Anzu looked down at her drink and tried to think of where they should begin. "So..." This was so much harder than she'd ever imagined. Finally she made a decision. "You wanted to walk me home..."

"Yeah." Honda nodded a little. He didn't seem all that much more eager to meet her eyes than she was to meet his. "It...I..." She had never known him to be quite so tongue-tied. "I wanted to just say it to you."

"So why didn't you?" She took a quiet drink, and hoped the answer would be something she didn't want to smack him for.

"Because for as long as we've known each other, you've liked Yuugi," Honda told her simply. She almost hit him anyway, even though the reason was probably the best she could've thought of. "I didn't want to step in the way, you know. He's the best thing that ever happened. There's no way I could've done something to get him mad at me. At us. Whatever."

Anzu was the last person who would have disagreed with this. "Yeah. I do like him." She turned slightly to look at Honda, and wasn't surprised to find he was fascinated with the traffic going up and down the street. "He's probably the best friend I'll ever have."

He didn't move an inch. "Me too. That's why I talked to him about it a while back. Before you started working at that place, really."

That wasn't really what she'd been expecting to hear. "You did?" The guys _had_ know about it, and Yuugi _had_ kept it from her? There was going to be some yelling sooner or later, somewhere or other. How had he managed to pull that one off?

"Yeah." He looked at her a little, the faintest hint of a smile going around his lips. "He said it was up to you what happened."

She tightened her grip on her cup. "Oh." Figuring out what to think from here was a little difficult. She hated feeling like she was some kind of an object where people had to _agree_ on what was going to happen to her, where they had to talk about it beforehand. On the other hand, she knew Honda would never have so much as breathed near her if Yuugi hadn't...well, given his permission, so to speak. It was a guy thing.

They'd known. She couldn't get over that, not right now, anyway. They'd been planning on what he did to get her attention. _It worked, didn't it?_ That was beside the point. She knew she should feel hurt and angry, maybe even not talk to them for a while. On the whole, she didn't want to, though.

It wasn't as if she hadn't considered giving _Jounouchi_ advice on how to tell Mai he liked her, after all, or wondered if there were something she could do sometimes for the rest of them if they ever liked someone. She'd never really thought about it would feel for that someone, though, to know that people were plotting about their life behind their back.

Why weren't things ever as easy in real life as they were in fiction? If someone were scripting their adventures, she probably would already have dated someone, more than once, and maybe even be plotting to go to the same college together. It would be easy, simple, and neat. Too bad things like that just didn't happen for real. They'd already had their out of this world adventure.

"So, if you don't want me to walk you home or anything else like that anymore, just let me know, and I won't." Honda spoke in a quick rush, and Anzu blinked. Had she been spacing out? She didn't think he'd said anything else while she'd been lost in her own thoughts.

From the way he was looking at her, she didn't think he had. She looked back down at her drink and took another sip. "I don't know," she said at last. Her gaze darted back quickly, and she winced to see the look of hurt that flashed so quickly through his eyes.

"All right," he said quickly and finished off his drink in two huge swallows. "When you do know, let _me_ know." He was within a second or two of leaving, even though he hadn't moved from his seat.

"Wait," Anzu spoke before she thought, and didn't care this time. Impulsive or not, she wasn't going to just let him leave like that. He looked at her and she plunged forward. "I didn't say I _didn't_ want you to do it, either."

Honda frowned, baffled. "Huh?" was his eloquent reply. "Don't mess with my head, Anzu."

"I said, I didn't say I didn't want you to walk me home. So you don't have to go leaving right now. I'm not even ready to _go_ home yet," she said it quietly and firmly. It was all true, every word. She wanted to think about this so much more, but not at home. How could she know if she wanted him to walk her home if he wasn't even there to do it?

"So what _do_ you want to do?"

She closed her eyes and drank a little more, wanting the answer to be found somewhere when she opened her eyes. Perhaps someone was watching out for her somewhere, because the answer _was_ there. "I want to spend more time with you. We've barely had a chance to talk for all that long lately."

He froze, just as neatly and cleanly as possible, and she managed to stop herself from laughing. She might've thought someone had turned him into a realistic ice statue, if it were possible. He worked out a few words. "You want to what?"

"Spend more time with you." To finalize it, she pulled her cell phone out of her purse and dialed her home number. "Mom? It's me. I'm off work, but I'm going to be hanging out for a while before I come home."

"Just take care of yourself," her mother's voice came through the receiver. "Are you going to be home for dinner?"

"Probably. If something changes, I'll let you know," Anzu told her. Once they'd made their farewells, Anzu turned off the phone and stuck it back in her purse.

Honda's attention hadn't lifted from her during the call. "You're serious?" Bafflement saturated his voice. "You're really serious?"

"Yes, I am serious." She looked at him intently. "Let's get it straight. You like me." He nodded. "Not just as a friend, and not just _only_ as a friend." He nodded a second time. "I like _you_. Not just as a friend and not only as a friend. So, since there are no objections from anyone who should object, and you've done the guy thing and gotten 'permission' to like me from Yuugi...what do you want to do today?"

He blinked a few times and fidgeted. "Oh. Um." He couldn't have made it more clear that he hadn't expected something like this if he were wearing a sign declaring that fact to the world. "If we're not going to get you home, then maybe we could go somewhere else?"

Well, of all the things she could like him for, being a genius apparently wasn't one of them. That was fine. She'd known a couple of geniuses and the weren't all that wonderful when it came to dating. She considered a few places that they could make it there and back to before she would have to be home for dinner.

"How about a movie?" she finally suggested. There were a few that would be done before then, and it would give them time to talk a little. No one ever said they actually had to _watch_ it, after all. That was what rental shops were for.

"All right. I think _Chains of Memory_ is playing," Honda suggested. Anzu tried to remember if she'd heard anything about that one, then nodded. It was some kind of silly romantic comedy, she thought. She hadn't paid too much attention to the previews when they'd come on television. Then she blinked a little.

"I would have thought you'd want to see that imported western that all the guys have been raving about..." As soon as the words left her mouth, Honda did something she would never have thought to see short of him talking about Miho again: he blushed.

"Yeah, well, I've already seen that," He protested as quickly as he could. She kind of doubted she should believe him, though. "I saw it with the guys about a week or so ago, for his birthday."

"All right." This was not the time to try and find out the truth, since it didn't really matter. She knew they _had_ went somewhere for the blond's birthday, after all. She hadn't been able to go, but Jounouchi had went on and on about how good it was. She glanced around and spied a newspaper stand across the road; it should have the most current movie times there so they'd know if they had to hurry or not. "Ready to go?"

"Ready." Honda was on his feet as quickly as she was. It was a little difficult getting out of the coffee shop, since there were still several other people who were doing their best to get in, but they made it over to the stand without too many troubles.

Anzu shivered a little as they headed down the street once they'd checked out the movie times. The paper itself was currently tucked under Honda's arm, since he'd paid for it. He'd mentioned something about looking for a part time job in there once school was out. Perhaps he just didn't want to take the chance of her temper going off again and the newspaper being used to damage him somehow. She would have been offended.

There were so many more damage-causing things she could use instead of a mere _newspaper_.

"Cold?"

And she was beginning to consider looking for some of them. "Just a little. It's February." The storm might have cleared off, but there was still enough of a nip in the air to make her wish she'd brought her thicker jacket with her. It was all right for a quick walk home. At least the theater wasn't all that far off, and she hoped it would be warmer there than it was out here.

Before she could utter another word, she found Honda wrapping her in his own warm jacket. She sputtered and tried to get out of it. "You're going to freeze!" she declared. What was he _thinking_?

"I'll be fine," he waved it off with a casual flip of a hand. "We're almost there, anyway."

Of all the guys she knew, she would have to start liking the one that had to be the most bone-headed. Maybe that said something about her. If it did, it wasn't something she was all that eager to explore. All she could do now was just hurry along to the theater, make certain she didn't fall anywhere on any random patches of ice, and _really_ hope it was a lot warmer in there. She didn't want Honda to start having a cold shoulder before they'd even had a real and solid date.

Which this wasn't, really. Not as far as she was concerned. This was just them spending an afternoon at the movies. She'd done it with the guys before. She'd even done it with just Yuugi before. It couldn't really be a date, though. Dates happened in other ways. This was something to decide if she would like to go on a date with him. A pre-date? A practice date? Something like that.

At any rate, the theater loomed ahead of them, and it looked as if they weren't the only people to decide this was a good idea as well. Anzu stifled a laugh, or tried to; first the coffee shop was thickly crowded and now here? Well, this _was_ Japan. She couldn't bring herself to be surprised there were people virtually anywhere that she looked.

"You all right?" Honda looked over at her, and she nodded quickly. Maybe she hadn't stopped the chuckle the way she thought she had.

"I just had a funny thought, that's all. It's nothing much." She wasn't sure if she wanted to explain, but he didn't ask for any, so she let it slide. "Let's get in line."

She thought she saw one or two people from school ahead of her, but no one noticed the two of them were there. That was fine with her. This practice date was for them, and that was it. _So far, so good,_ she grinned to herself as Honda paid for the tickets and they started inside. She wasn't really hungry, but despite the chill, the prospect of a cold soda was suddenly appealing as they moved to the refreshments area.

"What do you want?" Honda asked as they examined the offerings. She was suddenly glad they weren't with all of their friends. Jounouchi could make an entire meal out of theater food, and had been known to do so more than once. He ate more than most people breathed at times. Being there with just Honda was going to be more interesting than she'd first suspected, she hoped.

"Just a drink," she decided. She wasn't even all that thirsty, not after their trip to the coffee shop, but Honda was getting popcorn, and that would probably change things in a hurry.

Once they had everything they needed, they entered the theater and settled down a few rows from the back. The lights were still on, and the other people gathering to see this chattered quietly back and forth. Anzu got herself comfortable, sipping a little on her soda, then looked over at Honda.

"Does this feel weird?" she asked quietly, wanting to get things started somehow. This was almost as bad as it had been back in the coffee shop. How could people just _do_ things like this? She'd never really gotten much beyond thinking of how to get someone's attention. What happened when she _had_ it was all but unknown territory. Things had ended so badly with the Pharaoh...if one could even say they'd begun, which she didn't think was even close to true. And she'd never been able to bring herself to take these steps with Yuugi.

_Maybe if I had, I wouldn't be this nervous._ It was a regret, but one she could live with. Everyone had to start somewhere, and she would've been like this with him, which could have made things even worse between them. It was really better that they stayed friends, and she knew he agreed. He hadn't said as much, but everything they'd talked about the night before had made it very plain.

She didn't doubt that he hurt some over the whole thing. He wouldn't be human if he didn't, and Yuugi was probably the most human _human_ she'd ever met. But he would never even try to force her to care about him in any way she wasn't comfortable with, and she knew he'd be the first to wish her and Honda the best, no matter what happened.

All of that passed through her mind in less than a heartbeat, which was quite good, as it meant Honda didn't have to wait for her to finish thinking it before he answered. Such was the magic of thought.

"A little." He gulped down his own soda and eyed her with a hint of nervousness. "This isn't a date, is it?"

She was glad she'd already thought about that. "No, I don't think so. Not yet, anyway." She stole some of his popcorn and tossed it in her mouth. "I think it's a pre-date. A kind of practice. To see if we really want to."

"Oh. Right. All right." Honda accepted that as easily as if she'd said she thought there should be more salt in the popcorn, and took some of said popcorn for himself.

Anzu relaxed into the seat a little, realizing only then that she still had his jacket on. She wanted to give it back, but now that she thought about it, it _was_ nice and warm around her shoulders. It was too big for her, of course, but that just meant there was more of it for her to sink into. She'd give it back once they got back to her place, or better still, when they left here. He was going to need it.

The theater darkened slowly, and the first previews began to play on the wide white screen. Anzu tried to remember more of what the movie was supposed to be about, and kept coming up blank. She wished now she'd paid a little more attention to the advertisements, and leaned over to Honda. "What's going on in this thing, anyway?" She couldn't say she expected him to know. He'd probably just grabbed the name out of thin air, figuring she would like it. Did _he_ have a lot to learn.

"That guy there," Honda whispered in her ear, "is going to get kidnapped shortly by the villains. Their master of disguise is going to replace him and take over his life, for revenge for some things that happened a few years ago." He flashed a quick grin at her and turned his attention back to the screen, clearly not intending to say another word about the plot.

Anzu tried hard not to snicker. It didn't really sound too much like what she'd thought it would be about, but previews and movies were often two different things. This could be interesting.

And it did seem as if _she_ had a lot to learn about Honda as well, she realized. He'd answered as easily as if he'd seen this movie before, enough to know it by heart. She glanced back at him a few times as the movie progressed, and wasn't surprised to see his lips moving along silently with the words as the actors spoke. She grinned mischievously to herself and during a quiet few moments, leaned over towards him again. "So how many times have you seen this?"

Only the fact the theater was as dark as it was kept her from being certain he was blushing again. The blackmail she could have over him if she really wanted to! Jounouchi would never leave him be if he knew that was all it would take to get his tough friend blushing. She liked it, though. She'd never known he had a sensitive side like this. It was very, very cute.

"This is the third time," he whispered back to her at last, and she nodded. It really wasn't that bad of a movie. It would have been a lot more boring just to walk home and seal herself up in her room for the rest of the day. She needed to be out with people more than she needed rest at the moment.

As the movie came to an end, with the two leads safely wrapped up in one another's arms and the forces of evil vanquished for yet another day, Anzu finished the last of her soda and got to her feet. She couldn't believe how relaxed she felt as she and Honda started out of the theater. This had been exactly what she needed, instead of yet more work and school.

"Did you have a good time?" Honda asked a few minutes later as they wended their way back home. It was too late in the day to do much else, despite the fact she would have gladly thought up a dozen or more things to do if they had had the time.

"Yeah, I did. Better than I hoped." She smiled at him, and her heart warmed to see him smiling back. There was something unutterably sweet about one of his smiles, more than likely because she saw them so rarely. There was the wild grin he got when he was ready to go into a fight, or the way he had looked when something spectacular happened to one of their friends, like Jounouchi actually doing decently in a tournament or Yuugi winning one, but this was different. It was more personal. She wondered if anyone else had ever seen him look like this, and found herself hoping that they hadn't. She wanted to keep this all to herself, no matter how selfish the thought was.

"So..." Honda hesitated, then shook his head, the smile shifting into something more ordinary. She wondered if she could ask him to bring it back. She missed it already. "When do you work again?"

"Tuesday. Same time as usual." She grinned at him warmly. "Think you can be there to walk me home?"

"I think I can." He shivered some, and she started to shrug her way out of his jacket. "Anzu...it's still cold..."

"Right," she agreed, handing it over to him. "Which is why you're going to put that on. You've still got to walk home, and I'm almost there. Remember?"

She tightened her own jacket around herself as they walked, shooting glares at him until he pulled his on and zipped it up. Boys. What would they do without someone to think for them?

Her house was right ahead. The time had flown by. She hadn't even noticed when they'd passed the Game Shop, and she usually used that for a mental landmark. Which reminded her, she was going to have to do something to get back at them all for knowing and not telling her. Maybe it was childish, but it would also be fun. She'd think of something, somehow.

As they came to a stop on her doorstep, Honda looked at her again. "I guess I'll see you Monday, then," he said. "Glad you enjoyed yourself."

"So am I." What were you supposed to do when something like this came? If it had been a date, she might've considered a kiss or something, but with a practice date, what happened? Certainly not a practice kiss. And _not_ with her parents probably hovering on the other side of the door, waiting for her! Dinner wouldn't be for at least another half-hour, but they were parents. Finding her in embarrassing situations was part of what they did.

She drew her lips into a small, but sincere smile. "Bye, Honda."

"Bye, Anzu." He hesitated for a moment or two, then waved and started on his way. As she had when he'd first walked her home, she stood watching until he was gone. _Yeah. I think this is going to work._

Now if things only went that well when they had a _real_ date...

**To Be Continued**


	10. Clearing and More Confusion

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Story Title:** This Time, It's Me  
**Chapter Title:** Clearing and More Confusion  
**Story Word Count:** 37,943  
**Chapter Word Count:** 3,827  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Romance:** Honda x Anzu  
**Notes:** This takes place a few months after the Ceremonial Duel, in the closing weeks of their third year of high school. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**Summary:** As Valentine's Day draws near, Anzu wavers between just sticking to her obligations, or stepping away to follow the call of her heart.

* * *

Only a few more days now remained until Valentine's Day. Business at the candy store had picked up immeasurably, as had business at the various grocery stores that sold the ingredients for candy-making. Anzu could hardly miss it when so many of her classmates began to whisper and giggle in their free time about who they were going to be giving their homemade and obligation chocolates to. More than a few of them had dropped into Ms. Tanaka's store for advice and sweets over the last few days.

A small smile played over her lips at the thought of those days she'd worked. As always, Honda had been there every time to walk her home. Ever since their afternoon trip to the movies, she had felt as if something were growing between them with every time they spoke to each other or looked at each other. It was something more than the friendship they'd shared, and Anzu found it extraordinarily comforting.

The review sessions their teachers had been putting them through were getting more and more grueling with every day, and Anzu needed every scrap of comfort she could get. She still hadn't mentioned to Honda, or anyone other than Yuugi, about her failure to get into Juilliard, and she was quite confidant that Yuugi hadn't told anyone.

She still hadn't asked him how he'd managed to avoid spilling about the fact he'd known long before she had about what Honda had planned and felt. _I want to know, but it's weird...it doesn't really feel like it matters anymore._ There were so many other things that needed to be done. So Yuugi had managed, for once in his life, to keep a secret from her. It wasn't that much to get worked up over.

To be honest, it wasn't really the first time. He'd kept it to himself for months abut the existence of the Spirit of the Puzzle. But that was something else. He'd really thought they would abandon him if they'd known the truth. Still, it was some kind of practice for this.

She turned a page in her book and leaned back in her seat, wanting to give all the information a chance to sink into her mind where it might possibly do some good. School would be over with soon, and for once she didn't have to run off to work almost as soon as the bell rang. She could take her time, maybe chat with her friends before walking home...

_I never told Yuugi about Fukazawa._ The thought burst full-formed into her mind and she barely noticed her fingers curling into a fist. She hadn't went near Yuugi, Anzu was certain of that much. But she was going to be. Anzu was every bit as certain of _that_.

She glanced at the clock briefly. It wasn't that long until the end of classes for the day, and she breathed a quick and silent sigh of relief. She trusted Yuugi to take care of himself, but it would be better if he were prepared for whatever kind of assault Fukazawa intended to unleash on him, especially if it were of the heaving bosom and fluttering eyelash type. Anzu was more than ready to be there with something to combat the nausea that would stir in Yuugi. Or at least she hoped it would.

After all, he'd went flame-red over the sight of Mai all those months ago, and that had been when he'd still been crushing on her. How he might react now could be entirely different.

Her nails bit harder into her hands as something else crashed in on her. _What if he decides to go out with her just to try to get over me?_ Or worse, what if Yuugi decided to go out with Fukazawa just because he was that nice of a guy? If she spun a sob story before any of his friends could warn him of what she was like...

She was just going to have to head that off at the pass. And the sooner she did it, the better.

_Maybe I should punch Jounouchi for passing me those notes my first day at work._ If he hadn't, she would have been passing one to Yuugi as quickly as possible. As it was, the teacher's eyes hovered quite near all of them during class time. Sure, she knew they had to study and get ready for the tests, but this was every bit as important. She didn't think Ms. Maruyama would believe it, though.

It wasn't as if Fukazawa could swoop in during the middle of class and carry Yuugi away, though. But as soon as class ended, Anzu swore she'd be giving him that warning.

True to her word, as soon as the last bell had rung and people began to surge this way and that towards the lockers and the outer doors, Anzu forged her way over to where Yuugi, Honda, Jounouchi, Otogi, and Bakura were doing the exact same thing, if a little slower.

"Hey, guys!" she declared once she was in talking range. "Yuugi, have you got a second?"

He blinked at her, his eyes flicking over towards Honda for a moment before looking back at her. "Sure, Anzu. What's up?"

She glanced at everyone else for a moment, then decided more was better. Besides, they'd always done their best work when they were a team anyway. "In fact, I kind of think everyone should listen up."

"What is it?" Jounouchi looked and sounded kind of curious, and Anzu plunged ahead quickly.

"You guys remember that girl Fukazawa?" That name didn't cause the kind of reaction that some others might have, but both Jounouchi and Honda looked a little more alert once she'd said it.

Yuugi, however, still had that same clueless, polite smile on his face he usually did. "What about her?"

"She came into the store the other day and..." Anzu wasn't certain of just how to say what Fukazawa had actually said and decided to try a different approach on the spur of the moment. "I think she's going to try to get you to go out with her, Yuugi. And I don't think she's really going to be taking no for an answer."

A low growl rumbled, and Anzu looked up quickly to see Jounouchi's fists clenching every bit as hard as her own had. "That little..." He didn't normally insult girls these days, but what he said after that made up for all the times he hadn't, and would have earned him quite a bit of detention if a teacher had happened to overhear him.

"Thanks, Anzu," Yuugi replied, then shook his head a little bit at Jounouchi. "You don't have to act like that."

"And she doesn't have to be trying to get those claws of hers into my best friend!" Jounouchi snapped, amber eyes flaring with anger. "She likes to mess with people's heads, and worse!"

"Carrying stories about me?" A bad attempt at a sultry voice spoke from the door, and they all looked to see Fukazawa standing there, smirking in amusement. "Really, you'd think I was some kind of monster or something."

"I've met monsters." Anzu snapped. "You don't even come close."

The other girl only smiled again and started over towards Yuugi. "I want to propose a little something, Yuugi," she said, ignoring the rest of them. "Just between me and you."

Yuugi put on his most polite smile and began to shake his head. "I really don't feel like dating, I'm sorry. I have a lot of other plans."

"Oh, I wasn't going to ask for a date. Not right away." Fukazawa reached into a pocket and pulled out the same dueling deck she'd been toying with when she had taunted Anzu at the candy store. "But that was what I had in mind. You see, these are my stakes: we'll have a duel. If I win, you'll take me out to a restaurant I know of. If you win, you don't have to. It's that simple."

Before Yuugi could answer, Jounouchi, Honda, and Otogi all had near simultaneous coughing fits, and Bakura looked as if he would have openly laughed, if he wasn't as well-mannered as he was. Anzu tried not to laugh as hard as she really wanted to. She hadn't ever for a moment thought that Fukazawa was _serious_ about wanting to duel Yuugi. If she was any good, she would have been invited to Duelist Kingdom or made it through the ranks of Battle City, or at least placed in some kind of tournament.

_So she has to have some other kind of a plan._ Anzu's mind raced, trying to figure out what it could be, while everyone else did their best to get under control again.

Fukazawa's smile didn't waver, though Anzu was certain it had become a little strained. "What's so funny?"

"You challenged Yuugi to a duel," Bakura said quietly, the faintest hints of a smile twitching at his lips. "I've never seen you duel, but I really am not certain if you know what you're getting yourself into."

"Now, I know Yuugi's won some tournaments, so what is the problem?" Her smile only widened, a little more confidant now. "If he's all that good, then he shouldn't have any problems beating me. Of course if he'd rather take me out without having to duel, that would solve the whole problem right then and there."

Yuugi finally spoke up. "Fukazawa, if you really want a duel, I'll duel you. But I will not go out with you, no matter what." His voice was strong and firm, and if Anzu hadn't known better, she would have at least suspected that his other was there again. He still sounded like Yuugi, but he wasn't backing down from a situation either.

She found herself to be very, very proud of him just then.

Fukazawa pouted and took a step closer to him. "I've got some homemade chocolates I've been working on just for you, Yuugi. I know it's not Valentine's Day just yet, but I'm sure you wouldn't mind them being a little early, would you?"

Anzu wondered exactly what it was that made her so thick-skulled. Yuugi would be willing to befriend anyone and everyone up to and including potted plants but this was just going too far!

"I'm sorry." There was no compromise in his tone. "You're really not my type. Thank you, though. And if you ever want to _really_ duel, let me know. I always like a good game."

He picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder before he looked at the rest of his friends. "Come on, guys. We can hit the arcade before we go home. There's still time."

Anzu wanted to hug him. The look on Fukazawa's face was completely and utterly priceless. _I wish I dared to get a picture of it._ It would have made such a lovely photo to put in her collection. As it was, she just walked out, leaving Fukazawa standing there open-mouthed and in shock.

If things like this happened every day, she would be very, very sad to leave school.

"Think she's going to try to get him to take her out again?" Jounouchi wondered as they walked. He and Honda were on each side of Anzu, while Yuugi was quietly talking with Otogi and Bakura ahead of them. Anzu couldn't hear what they were saying, but she suspected it probably had something to do with what had just happened. It was the only thing _she_ could think about, after all.

"I wouldn't be surprised," she replied. "She can be stubborn when she wants to be."

"I think we saw that," Honda muttered. Anzu could feel herself coloring just at the sound of his voice. There was something so different about it. Or maybe it was just the way she was reacting to it. _I...I think I want to make him some chocolates._ There was still time to do it. She didn't even have to go to a store; her mom kept candy making ingredients on hand virtually all of the time, since her father had such a sweet tooth.

"Jounouchi!" Almost as soon as they stepped out of the school, their blond friend's name was called, and Anzu was extraordinarily unsurprised to see Mai standing there, an amused grin all over her face. It was so much more of a _nicer_ expression than what Fukazawa tended to sport, even though someone else might have thought they were very similar.

_Maybe back when we first met Mai. But she's learned a lot since then. Now if only Fukazawa could do the same thing._

As soon as she called for him, Jounouchi headed over to her. "What are you doing here, Mai? You can't want to go back to school."

"No, you idiot. But I was thinking maybe you'd want to hit the beach or something with me."

Jounouchi looked at her as if she'd lost her mind. "Mai, it's February."

"So? It's not that cold, either, and we don't have to go swimming. Come on! Let's go!" She started towards her car, and Jounouchi just shook his head with a slightly dopey grin.

"I'll see you guys later!" He declared, waving at everyone else as he went off to join her.

Yuugi laughed a little as the car swiftly vanished out of the school parking lot. "I think we know what he's going to be doing for the rest of the day." Fondness wrapped his words as he turned down the street. "Everyone else still up for the arcade?"

Anzu hesitated for a moment; she did want to go, but now that she had made her decision about the chocolates, she almost wanted to get started on them more quickly. _No. I'm going to stay with them. I've still got another couple of days until Valentine's Day anyway. I can make them tomorrow once I get home from work._

That would mean another walk home with Honda, and maybe they could actually start talking about what they'd like to do for their first real date. Everything in her sang at the very thought of it. Dating Honda. _Really_ dating him, not just doing things like all of them did together. She could hardly wait for it. They still hadn't set any kind of plans for it. She had a feeling he wanted it to be something special, not just what they did, but the way he asked. Deep inside, no matter how much it might embarrass him, he was a secret romantic.

_Which is something that I like about him._

"It's so hard to believe that we're almost done with school." She almost missed Bakura speaking, his voice was so soft. He showed his emotions much more freely these days than he had when he still bore the Millennium Ring, but for the most part, he was usually the same quiet boy who had entered their class back in their first year. Anzu wondered if he would accept anyone's chocolate this year at all. He was still, and probably always would be, an enigma to all of them except perhaps Yuugi.

"I know what you mean. It seems like just yesterday that we were _starting_ high school!" Yuugi declared. "And now..."

"Now we can finally dump it and go do something important!" Otogi interjected. Honda laughed briefly.

"You already know what you're going to be doing, Otogi. Not everyone has all their plans made."

The black-haired teen flashed one of those trademark cocky grins. "Can I help it if I'm just naturally talented? In many things?"

"Sounds like someone's ego is getting out of control," Anzu murmured, just loudly enough to be heard. Otogi grinned over his shoulder at her.

"It's not ego when it's the absolute truth."

She wondered if it were worth the time it would take to smack him. What was she thinking, of course it was. She smacked him lightly on the arm, grinning right back at him. "Maybe, but it still needs to be kept down, before you break something with it."

Otogi just rolled his eyes and grinned, strolling along as if nothing else in the world mattered. She thought about smacking him again, but the thought dissolved away as she caught sight of Honda's amused look.

"What?" she asked, walking a little closer to him. Honda shrugged.

"I was just thinking about when you'd chase us away from messing with Yuugi. And those...games we'd play with you." He knew as well as she did that the word 'games' was the politest way to say they'd pulled her skirt up more than once. "All that, and you're still not only friends with us, but..."

Anzu smiled a little. "Hey, you grew out of needing your head smacked constantly. Took you long enough." She shook her head. "You weren't all that bad." A flash of memory rippled over her mind, as she recalled Yuugi telling her one day that Honda had made him buy the taller boy some dirty magazines. "Well, at least not as bad as you could have been."

After all, if he'd _really_ hurt Yuugi, he wouldn't be standing there with his brains intact at the moment, would he? The other Yuugi would have seen to that.

"Yeah." Honda shoved his hands into his pockets as they walked along. Otogi, Bakura, and Yuugi were still talking ahead of them, and Anzu was quite certain the topic would be games of some type. It was what the three of them lived for. She had no idea of how they could talk about it as much as they did, but it seemed to make them happy. Maybe her love of dance was just as confusing to them.

Dancing. Juilliard. She winced just a little at the thoughts as they chained together. Would she ever get there? _Don't give up trying,_ she told herself firmly. Maybe she wouldn't go there, but there were other dance schools in the world. She'd just have to keep on until she was accepted somewhere.

"Something's on your mind." Honda spoke the words quietly, so the others wouldn't hear. "Want to talk about it?"

She couldn't exactly say it was nothing. Well, she could. She just didn't want to. _I guess I should._ "I was just thinking about...something." She knew that didn't answer his question, and all he did was continue to walk beside her, waiting patiently. She had the impression he felt he could wait the rest of the week if that were what it took to get her answer.

As interesting as that would have been to see, Anzu didn't want to wait that long. Keeping it bottled up, even with the little release of talking to Yuugi, was really getting to her. "I sent in an application to Juilliard a few months ago," she said at last. She didn't bother to keep her voice _too_ down. If Bakura and Otogi heard her, that was all right. They were her friends too. "I got rejected."

From the quick flash of green eyes back towards her, she knew Otogi had heard, and Bakura's slight wince of sympathy meant he was no more deaf than the game designer. Yuugi only nodded slightly, large eyes turned towards her full of caring and compassion.

Honda shrugged briefly. "Their loss. They'll regret it one day."

Anzu smiled to herself, shifting her grip on her bag. Of all the things that could have been said, what _he_ said warmed her inside. It meant just as much as what the others didn't say.

They were still two streets over from the arcade when Honda touched her shoulder a little. "Hey, there's the ramen stand. Want to get some?"

"Sure. What about you guys?" Anzu asked before she could stop herself. Getting ramen from there had always just been something she and Honda had done on their walks home. Asking them didn't feel quite wrong, but it didn't feel quite right, either. _It's just what you're used to, that's all. It's nothing._

Anzu focused more on her ramen once she had it than anything else. It was good, it was hot, and just what she wanted in the nippy afternoon air. There wasn't much talking that could be done while they are, and she simply enjoyed being with her friends. She cast an extra glance or two at Honda as they walked, and every time she felt a little warmer, a little more certain of the sensations growing within her. It still might not be anything more than a high school experience, but she didn't feel like believing in that just yet.

"Hey, Yuugi," Honda spoke up as he pushed his ramen bowl into a trashcan. "You think we could skip the arcade and go to your place? There's something I want to talk to you about there."

Yuugi blinked a few times, then nodded. "Sure, Honda. You don't mind, do you, guys?"

Before anyone else could say anything, Honda interrupted. "I kind of meant just you and me. It's...it's personal. Private. That kind of thing."

Bakura nodded briefly. "Of course. I understand."

"No problem. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Otogi grinned at the two of them, and Anzu automatically whacked his arm. "Hey! What was that for?"

"There's no need for you to be the pervert just because Jounouchi isn't here," she told him sharply as she looked at Honda and Yuugi. What kind of private thing could Honda want to talk to Yuugi about? He hadn't mentioned anything at all like this before...

_What, do you think you're the only person he talks to? His every action has to revolve around you? It's probably some guy thing._ She wanted to hit herself, but that would just look really strange. Instead, she just nodded at her two friends. "I'll see you after work tomorrow, Honda, I guess?"

Instead of the friendly nod and smile she'd expected, he shook his head a little. "I can't, sorry. My sister's visiting, and I've got to take care of Johji while she and my mom catch up or whatever it is they're trying to do."

"Oh." The walk home was going to be a lot longer, a little colder, and mountains of less interesting now. She smiled anyway. "All right, see you around."

As Honda and Yuugi left, Otogi tugged at her sleeve. "Come on, we can still go to the arcade. Right?"

She blinked some, refusing to acknowledge any vague stingings in her eyes, and nodded. "Right. Come on!" She started towards the arcade as quickly as she could. She wanted to dance, to get rid of all the feelings that were boiling up inside of her, and there was no better place to do it right now than at the arcade.

She almost felt sorry for anyone trying to beat her at the dance game today.

**To Be Continued**


	11. Disturbed Patterns

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Story Title:** This Time, It's Me  
**Chapter Title:** Disturbed Patterns  
**Story Word Count:** 41,890  
**Chapter Word Count:** 3,947  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Romance:** Honda x Anzu  
**Notes:** This takes place a few months after the Ceremonial Duel, in the closing weeks of their third year of high school. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**Summary:** As Valentine's Day draws near, Anzu wavers between just sticking to her obligations, or stepping away to follow the call of her heart.

* * *

Which recipe did she want to use? There were all kinds in her mom's cookbooks. She wasn't sure if she wanted to use something from the store. They'd be _good_ if she did, or so she hoped, but that still wasn't what she wanted. Some part of her whispered that using one from the store would just result in a kind of prepackaged taste. She knew it was silly, but she wanted something better for Honda. It was the first time she'd ever made something for someone else like this, and she really wanted it to be special.

Anzu turned the thoughts over in her mind as she pushed the broom around the floor of the store. This was one of the few lulls they'd probably have today, before more people came in wanting their candy. She feared it would not be pretty at all. At least she wouldn't have to put up with it for more than an hour or two. There _were_ benefits to only working part time.

A quick glance outside showed the light was fading fast. It would be, as was usual, dark by the time she was ready to go home. She swallowed a little, not certain of just how comfortable things were going to be walking home alone. _Stop being a baby!_ She reprimanded herself sharply. She didn't need someone to hold her hand just because it was a little dark out there. She was a _dancer_, who had been training for years. All of the guys had told her time and time again that if she were ever mad at them, to hit all they liked, but for the love of all things holy to never _kick_ them.

She supposed they were right. The last time she'd gotten mad and kicked something, it _had_ flown rather impressively. Dancing made one's legs incredibly strong, if they worked at it like she had. She could take care of herself. Hadn't that even been part of why she was angry at Honda in the first place when he'd told her why he walked her home?

_I can be inconsistent if I want to be. I'm a teenager._ She knew she was right. It was part of the job package for her age bracket, after all.

So, which recipe to use? It was just one of the things she kept going over in her mind in an attempt to keep her thoughts off what was really going on with Honda. What could he have to talk to Yuugi about? Something about it nagged at her unceasingly. She wanted it to be nothing. She _knew_ that he and Honda had straightened out that whole 'can I date her because you had a crush on her' thing. Honda had told her, and Yuugi would've said something when they'd talked that day, she _knew_ he would have. Able to keep a secret or not, she _knew_ him too well for anything else.

Recipes, recipes...she hoped she didn't wind up running into Johji while he and his mother were visiting. She'd met him once or twice after the whole Death-T incident, and she wasn't all that thrilled with him any of those times. One might hope that he would get better as he got older, stop being so perverted and eager to grope whatever, or whoever, came near him.

Unfortunately, it seemed that as time passed, he was just growing _worse_ with every passing day. She made a note to wear a pair of pants and the loosest shirt she could find if she did go to see Honda during their visit. _I'm going to._ She didn't want to hand over the products of her labor at school in front of everyone. It wasn't everyone's business what was going on between herself and Honda. It was really just between the two of them.

She wondered if Honda would prefer fudge or cookies or something else. She'd never thought much about his sweet preference. He just wasn't the kind of person one usually saw _having_ a snack like that. She knew he'd had Pocky on more than one occasion, and she was almost certain his favorite flavor was strawberry. That didn't quite fit the bill for the moment, though. _Most of the time he's eating something that isn't sweet at all._

That was going to make this a little more difficult. But it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. As nervous as she was about the whole thing, she knew she could make something that wasn't poisonous and they'd probably have some fun sharing. Maybe she could ask her mom for a little advice on she got home from work. The older woman would probably be glad that Anzu had an interest in someone.

_Someone who is among the living,_ she amended to herself. Her mother had never suspected for a moment the existence of the Pharaoh, much less Anzu's crush on him. Anzu wasn't even certain if her mother could have told a Duel Monsters card from a playing card from a hole in the ground. There were advantages to being older. At any rate, her mom would certainly give her a helping hand. She would probably be working on something to give her dad for Valentine's Day anyway. There were some older couples who didn't bother with the holiday, but her parents weren't one of them. At times it could be embarrassing to be seen with them. They were so affectionate with each other, holding hands when they walked down streets and everything!

A quick glance at the clock told her that it was finally time to get ready to go home. Another speedy look outside showed that there wasn't any familiar shadow waiting for her, and she stifled a sigh. Like it or not, she was going to be going home by herself tonight.

She finished cleaning up the floor, brought out a few more boxes of candies to fill in a gap in one of the displays, and walked over to where Ms. Tanaka had just rung out another couple of customers who had slipped in while Anzu wasn't paying attention.

"Time to go," her boss said, eyes flicking briefly towards the time before she looked back at Anzu. "You're doing very well here. Would you care to stay on for a while? I know you said you're in your last year of high school."

Anzu nodded briefly. "I think I'd like to. There's something I've been saving for and I'm not really close to being ready to get it yet."

"All right. Let me know you're free for more hours and I'll arrange it," Ms. Tanaka said. Anzu flashed a warm smile at her.

"You got it." She hurried on past her boss into the staff area and changed back into her school uniform, brushing her hands through her hair and trying to look relatively collected. She could hardly wait to tell Honda!

_But I'm going to have to._ She bit back a word or two that might've been considered rude, more from not wanting to shock Ms. Tanaka or any customers who might have been in the area than anything else. Every time that she thought she'd remembered that he wasn't going to be there, it came back up to surprise her, and she _hated_ how it made her feel. She was used to walking home with him by now, and this broke the pattern, and she just did not like it at all.

All too quickly she was out of the store and heading down the sidewalk that led, eventually, towards her home. Again, without even realizing it, she began to measure her steps to respond to someone who wasn't there, and the second she did, she wanted to throw something, the harder the better, and she didn't much care who she hit. Just when things had been getting _interesting_, something had to interrupt them. She didn't care if she were being bratty, even if it were in her own mind only. She just wanted things back to normal.

"Hey, Anzu!" She almost didn't turn and look. It wasn't Honda's voice, and she was feeling just peevish enough not to care who else it was. Then it came again. "Anzu! Wait up!"

She hesitated a little, turned, and saw Jounouchi running over to her. _Huh? What does he want?_ Before she could stop herself, the question came tumbling out of her mouth, and he grinned at her.

"Just walking you home. Honda wanted me to make sure you got there in one piece."

"Oh, really now?" Her fists clenched automatically and she had to fight back the urge to snap. _Don't be crazy._ She wondered if she should have checked her calendar more closely. She wasn't normally this snappish, no matter what.

"Yeah." He caught up with her and rubbed the back of his head. "Dunno why, I've told him you could take care of yourself, but you know the big idiot."

She laughed, her irritation starting to ebb away. "Yeah, I know." Really, what was so wrong about him sending someone to walk with her? Maybe he'd figured out she would be nervous about this and had thought ahead? _Could_ Honda think ahead? There were times she'd thought he could, and times when she'd doubted he knew what doing it was.

_And since I couldn't think ahead half the time on a bet, maybe that's not so bad, either way._ Maybe that was one of the reasons they were clicking as well as they did. They balanced each other, somewhat. It was just as well it wasn't a perfect match, though. Perfection was more than boring, it could lead right into staleness. The last thing she wanted was to sour on a relationship before it even got started that well.

Yes, she did have something of a relationship with Honda. They were one real date away from actually dating one another. All she needed was to be asked, or to do the asking. _Maybe I should go ahead and do it,_ she mused, her attention much more on her inner thoughts than on the comments that poured out of Jounouchi's mouth. He was babbling just as he always did, and she had more than enough experience to know when to say yes, no, and whatever other answers might be fitting.

If she did ask him, where would they go, what could they do? They'd already went to a movie, and they'd eaten together multiple times. Maybe they could go to a museum. There were a few in town that they hadn't went to with everyone else yet, other than Domino Museum itself. Or they could hit one of the amusement parks in the area and have some fun there. That was beginning to sound more interesting. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea.

_I'll ask him tomorrow,_ she decided firmly. She could check through the local listings to see which one was closest and what their best hours were so they could figure out just when they wanted to go. The decision made, she started to pay a little more attention to whatever it was that Jounouchi was going on so happily about.

"Mai and I had the most awesome time at the beach. We didn't actually go in the water, but we kind of walked and talked and stuff." It was about what she'd expected. "She's going to be entering that tournament I saw advertised the other day. I've been thinking about going too. Maybe we'd duel each other." Yeah, dueling and Mai. The two things that Jounouchi spent the majority of his time thinking about. The rest of his friends were in there somewhere of course, and if he entered a tournament, she was already clearing personal space to go there and give him a cheer, whether or not he needed it. The same would hold true for Yuugi if he decided to enter. It was what she did. Honda would be right beside her, she knew. It was what they both enjoyed doing, being a support system.

She let herself make appropriate comments without thinking about them very much. She had other things that wanted to take her brainspace at the moment. Honda. The recipe she still hadn't decided on. Honda. What she was going to do with the rest of her life after high school. Honda. How much of the rest of her life was going to include Honda, or her other friends, or dancing itself.

Maybe she should start looking into colleges right around here. There were always local dance schools. She didn't have to start off at the top. She'd start looking for them in a few days, once all the excitement of Valentine's Day was over with.

"Anzu, you're not listening to a word I'm saying, are you?" Jounouchi's amused voice jerked her attention towards him, and she flushed the deepest red imaginable.

"Of course I am!" She hated the lie, but she wasn't going to be rude by telling him the truth, even if she'd already been rude by not listening in the first place.

The blond only grinned at her. "Don't worry about it. Let me guess, thinking about Honda, right?" Her deepening color answered for her, and his grin widened. "Hope you guys make it work. We all do."

That gave her something else to focus on. She poked Jounouchi in the side and grinned at him. "So how'd you get Yuugi to not let on that he already knew Honda liked me? How did _all_ of you keep it from me, anyway?" She didn't ask why. They were guys. That was all the answer she would ever need.

"I guess...we just did. It's not like we thought about it, really," Jounouchi said, considering his words before he said them for a change. "Honda just told us a while back that he liked you. Yuugi..." Jounouchi scratched his head, trying to work out what he wanted to say. "The first person I know he talked to about it _was_ Yuugi. You know how it is."

Yes. She knew. It was them being guys again. This was probably going to be one of those conversations where she ended up wondering why she didn't find more people of the female persuasion to hang around. Maybe she could find out if Isis had an e-mail. The elder Ishtar was several years older than she was, but Anzu didn't care at the moment. Perhaps that would give her some kind of perspective as to why guys were so insane and needed to be smacked on such a regular basis.

They were just coming up to the Game Shop, and Anzu glanced over towards it automatically. She'd barely taken another few steps before the door swung open, and two figures appeared there that she knew as well as she knew her own reflection.

"Are you sure you want it like that, Honda?" Yuugi's voice floated across to her, full of concern. Anzu frowned; hadn't Honda said he had to take care of Johji today? She couldn't see the little pest anywhere. Her eyes narrowed; was she being lied to again?

"Yeah. I'm doing it for myself this time, Yuugi." Honda was firm. She had heard that tone in his voice many times before. He went over to a cycle that had been parked a short distance away and pulled a helmet he picked up from it onto his head. "Thanks, though. Thanks a lot."

"No problem!" Yuugi waved a little before he went back inside, the faint tinkle of the bell over the door sounding.

Anzu stared at the motorcycle Honda was on as he got it started and headed away from the shop. If he noticed the two of them walking by, he made no sign of it that she could tell as he rode calmly away. _When did he get a motorcycle?_ She hadn't forgotten hearing the noise of one all those nights earlier when he'd actually told her that he liked her, and she'd went to Yuugi's to talk to him about it.

"When did he get a motorcycle?" She wasn't aware she'd asked the question out loud until Jounouchi answered her.

"A couple of weeks ago. It was a late gift from an uncle or cousin or something like that." He shrugged a touch. "He's been going out a few nights a week getting used to it."

"Oh." She was going to have to do something about Honda's tendency not to talk to her about things. If they were going to be dating each other, she would like to know a _few_ things about him. She didn't want a detailed description of his every day, but something like this could possibly be useful to know! She would talk to him about it when she asked about the date. If he were lucky, she would ask after the burning rage storming inside of her had cooled off a little more.

She glanced again in the direction he'd went, then back to Jounouchi. "Any idea of what they were talking about?" She hoped she wasn't prying into something that wasn't any of her business, but she was curious. What in the world had Honda been talking about, anyway? It didn't make any sense that she could think of.

"No idea. I didn't even know he was going to be here," Jounouchi glanced back at the Game Shop before they were out of sight. "Maybe he was getting something for Johji."

Well, that kind of made sense. The store didn't necessarily sell things just for little kids, but Johji was much more like a thirty-five year old lecher who just happened to be living inside of a three year old's body. Then again, the thought of what could be bought there that might satisfy him was terrifying no matter what. Maybe it was something she shouldn't think about all that much. It was much more satisfying to just decide Honda hadn't lied to her, and had just run down to his friend's place to get something to distract his pervert nephew in an attempt to save his own sanity.

It still didn't make the snatch of conversation she'd heard make any sense, but maybe that was because that was all she _had_ heard of it. It probably would have been better if she knew everything about it, and once she asked Honda or Yuugi and they told her, she'd be laughing her head off at her suspicions.

"Is there any kind of candy you know of that Honda really likes? I've been thinking and thinking and I can't really remember him liking that much of it," she asked as they drew closer to her house. This was one advantage of walking with his best friend and not with Honda himself: she could ask this question and not have to wonder what might be going through his mind. And she got the information she needed as well.

Jounouchi considered for a moment or two. "I think I've heard him mention fudge about five or six times whenever someone talks about candy. But he doesn't eat it a whole lot. Any time I've seen him in a candy store, though, that's what he gets." He glanced at her, a grin on his lips. "I think he'd like just about anything, though. Maybe you could try to surprise him or something?"

That was sounding like somewhat of a better idea. She'd never quite liked the scent of fudge, much less the taste. It was a little too thick for her. Maybe she could try to make cupcakes. Those were always good, and she knew her mom had a couple of good recipes she'd be able to use.

"Thanks for walking me, Jounouchi," she said as they came up to her door. "I'll see you around."

"Hey, no problem," he told her, grinning. "See you later!" He waved and walked off towards his own home, hands in his pockets, as calm as could be. Anzu watched for a few moments, thinking of how different he was, not just from Honda or Yuugi or Bakura, but from the person he'd been when they'd first met. _Yuugi's been a good influence on him. On both of them._ There was no way she would have been friends with Jounouchi back then, much less considered dating Honda as he had been.

That was something else she owed thanks to Atemu and Yuugi both for. Because of the two of them, she had more friends than she would have ever been able to manage, and this whole thing with Honda had begun as well. If there were some way for her to thank them, in a way that she felt really expressed it perfectly, she would do it.

_Maybe just living my life, with those friends, is the best way._ It certainly couldn't hurt.

She closed the door behind herself, relaxing as the warmth of the house spread all over her, and kicked her shoes off before sliding into her comfortable house slippers. At least there hadn't been _too_ much homework assigned today. She could finish it in an hour or two. First she wanted something to eat and a chance to sit down and recover a little, and of course, the cupcakes were going to want to be baked. She'd do her homework first, as much as she wanted to get to the baking, unfortunately. Her parents would never let her do otherwise.

Not to mention, she didn't want to be distracted by thoughts of dates and numbers when she could be thinking about dates and Honda.

"Anzu?" Her mother leaned around the corner and smiled to see her there. "I thought I heard you come in. How was your day, dear?"

"Not bad." Anzu started towards her room to deposit her books, feeling her muscles and bones creaking a little as she did. She made a note to find some kind of a way to get a good massage soon. She was going to desperately need one before school got out. "Mom, I want to make some of those cupcakes you told me about. You know the ones, for Valentine's Day?"

Her mother smiled brilliantly, eyes virtually glowing with joy. "Of course! Did you finally decide to go out with that nice Mutou boy?"

"His name is Yuugi, and no. We're just going to be friends." Anzu knew her parents knew about the rule against school dating. She also knew that they wanted her to be happy, and if that meant a little rule-breaking, as long as she got her homework done and didn't take it _too_ far, letting it interfere with work or school, then they would support her. "I want to make them for Honda."

"Honda?" There was a slight frown on her mother's face as she tried to place the name. "Isn't he the one with that very strange hair?"

Anzu's lips twitched for a moment before she couldn't help herself and laughed. "Mom, almost all of my friends have strange hair. It's just something they have. But he's the very tall one, with the spike hairdo."

"Ah. Well, of course I know which cupcakes you mean. I'll get you the recipe: once you've done your homework."

Of course. She sighed only a little as she put her books down in her room. Maybe graduating wouldn't be that bad. At least there wouldn't be this much homework. There would, of course, probably be much more.

But if she were still dating Honda at the time, it wouldn't be all that bad. She hoped.

**To Be Continued**


	12. Prelude To The Beginning

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Story Title:** This Time, It's Me  
**Chapter Title:** Prelude To The Beginning  
**Story Word Count:** 45,702  
**Chapter Word Count:** 3,812  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Romance:** Honda x Anzu  
**Notes:** This takes place a few months after the Ceremonial Duel, in the closing weeks of their third year of high school. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**Summary:** As Valentine's Day draws near, Anzu wavers between just sticking to her obligations, or stepping away to follow the call of her heart.

* * *

The day had come at last. It was finally Valentine's Day. Anzu stared down at the extra bag hanging off of her arm and tried not to be too nervous about that _one_ bag. She'd bought all the others for the rest of her friends at the store, and would hand them out once everyone got there. The rules about dating weren't exactly lifted this day, but the teachers, for the most part, would look the other way for gift exchanges.

She had worked hard to get the cupcakes done properly, and it had taken her about four tries before she had them the way that she wanted them to be. The rejects would be coming to the dinner table as dessert until they were all gone. At least they were edible. Some people might've even thought they were good enough as they were. Anzu wasn't one of them.

"Hey, Anzu!" Jounouchi waved to her as he entered the classroom. Bakura was right behind him, a quiet smile on his lips. She wondered just what had brought that on. He wasn't normally a sad person, but he very seldom actually looked this happy. Maybe he'd decided to accept someone's Valentine's offering? She wouldn't ask, though. That would be much too rude. Not that she wasn't a little curious, of course.

"Hi. How's it going?" She smiled back at Jounouchi and nodded, not surprised to hear his response including Mai and a package of homemade cookies that had found their way to him that morning. She was glad she'd told the blonde just which type Jounouchi liked. Anything she could do to help out a friend was worth it.

A few other people came in, and she spied a few bags, some bearing the mark of _Sweet Stuff_, being passed around here and there. No one seemed to be doing anything other than the normal obligation chocolates this year in their class. No one, that was, except for her.

She swallowed briefly, trying to focus on anything but the bag of candy there. Where was Honda? When was he going to come in? Otogi had already been in there when she'd gotten there, and they'd exchanged a few pleasant words before everyone else started to trickle in. Only Honda and Yuugi hadn't come in yet.

Were Johji and his mother still visiting the Hondas? If she had to go over there to deliver this and put up with that little brat...well, she didn't know if it would be worth it or not but finding out the hard way wasn't really what she wanted to do. But she would if she had to.

A familiar figure turned the corner into the room and she smiled at Yuugi as he came over to settle into his seat. He glanced at her warmly once he'd put his books away. "Honda's going to be right in. He had to take care of some things." For a moment, she wondered if he were going to say something else, but he only closed his mouth a little firmly and started to sort through his pens and pencils as if they were the most interesting items possible at the moment.

Three other people entered before Honda strolled in calmly. There was a small box on top of his usual stack of books, and Anzu wondered what it was. She hadn't ever seen him with it before. He went over to his seat and put everything down, one hand resting on the box for a moment. He started to turn towards Anzu, and she jumped quickly to get the bag with the sweets, jolted into action by his movement.

"All right, here you all go," she said, trying not to sound too nervous at the prospect of handing this traditional treat out. She opened her bag and handed around each one of the chocolates she'd picked out for them all, saving Honda's until the last. Finally she pulled it out and stepped over to him. He'd watched the whole time, one hand on the box, not saying anything or moving so much as an inch. She wondered what was going on behind those warm eyes she liked watching so very much. _I hope he likes this._ Memories of a year earlier tried to rise up, and she pushed them back down. Honda knew what this was all about. They already liked each other. She wasn't risking making such a fool of herself again.

She held the bag out to him quietly and met his eyes. "I made these for you myself," she said quietly and firmly. She wanted him to know it wasn't obligation chocolate in his bag. "They're cupcakes. I hope you like them."

Honda nodded, his lips curving upward a little, and accepted the bag. Then he held the box out to her. "I got this for you. I hope _you_ like it." Just like before with Yuugi, he looked as if he were about to say something else, then stopped himself. "But you probably shouldn't look at it now. I mean, it's class time in a few minutes, and you're going to need a lot of free time to..." He hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck ruefully. "Well, you'll want some time with it. That's all. You might even have to wait til you get home."

Now that was starting to get interesting. She took the box and settled back at her desk, glancing at him every so often. He opened up the bag she'd given him and took a long breath of the cupcakes; she'd baked this last and best batch just that morning, wanting them to still be warm when she gave them to him. He didn't eat any right away, however, and after examining them for a few moments, closed the bag and put it away in his desk.

She looked at the box he'd given her and resisted the temptation to rattle it around. Instead, she simply put it away as well. She was on fire to know just what was in it. Her fingers itched to tear into the wrappings and see what lay beneath and inside. It had to be something good and interesting. But just what? What did you really give someone when you hadn't even been on a proper date.

_I still need to fix that._ There hadn't yet been what she would consider a proper chance to ask him what he thought of going to a museum for their first date. She made up her mind that once she found out what was in this box, she'd do it, even if she had to call him to do so, instead of face to face. She could probably do it now, but that would be risking a bit too much of the teacher's goodwill.

Speaking of the teacher, the first of them entered the classroom now, and shot a dour look at them all. "Please get all of that candy out of sight right now. This is a learning institution, not a singles bar, and I expect you all to pay attention and do some learning. You may have only a few more weeks left of school, but you are going to work during them."

Anzu had heard that this particular teacher tended to give this exact same speech every Valentine's Day and White Day, especially to those in the third year. She settled back, glad she had already put Honda's gift out of sight, and opened her book once he'd told them where he was starting for the day. She was going to make certain nothing happened to this box until she was ready to take it home.

The day slowly clicked by, each class period passing as if it were made of molasses instead of seconds and minutes. Whenever Anzu had to reach into her desk for something, her fingers brushed against the box, and a pleasant shiver ran down her spine. She tried not to think too much about it, knowing she wasn't going to have time to really look at it until after school and work. She would be needed at the store tonight, she knew. There were always people who waited until the very last minute to get what they needed.

At last, lunch time came around, and everyone pulled a little closer together to eat. The first thing Anzu noticed was that Bakura's earlier smile hadn't changed a bit. _Really, he must have done something with someone._ She didn't know what or with who, but he looked as happy as _she_ felt whenever she thought that much about being with Honda.

"All right, spill it, Bakura." Anzu might've been concerned with how rude it might've been to ask, but Jounouchi didn't feel that same restraint. "You've been grinning like an idiot all day. So who is it?"

Bakura's pale cheeks flushed a deep red, and Anzu smacked the blond's arm quickly. "Jounouchi! He doesn't have to tell us if he doesn't want to! It's his business, not ours!"

"Aw, come on, Anzu!" Jounouchi openly whined and tried to pout at her. She didn't fall for it. She'd seen him do it too many times. "I know you want to know as much as I do!"

She only shook her head. "It's private between them, obviously." If Bakura wanted them to know, then they would know. She didn't think it was any of them, though. She hoped she would have noticed Bakura and whoever it was talking or something. It wasn't anything to get worked up about if she hadn't, but still...she liked to think she was a little more observant than that.

_So observant that you didn't notice Honda liking you until he really started to show it,_ some part of her mind whispered. She harshly told it to be quiet and ate her lunch fiercely, keeping one eye on Jounouchi to be certain he didn't start prying at Bakura again. Her other eye was on Honda, wondering just what he thought about the cupcakes, since he was sampling one with his own food.

She hoped she'd made them as well as she'd hoped. She'd sampled one once they were out of the oven, but if Honda didn't like cupcakes, or just didn't like that many sweet things, she had no idea of what she'd try to do next. The gesture itself was what supposedly counted the most, but she at least wanted to make a _good_ gesture instead of flailing about wildly.

"These are really great, Anzu," Honda said suddenly, looking up at her. He was even smiling, and she returned the expression, her heart swelling up with joy. He'd liked them. She hadn't screwed up this time.

"Not surprised," Yuugi piped in. "I bet you worked on them a lot, didn't you?"

She knew she was blushing and nodded quickly, not even trying to hide it. It was just a blush, after all. Nothing to get that worked up about. "I've been trying to get them right for a few days. I guess I did."

"You did." Honda nodded as he looked at her. "Hey, I was wondering...tonight, instead of walking home, want a ride on my cycle? I've got a spare helmet, and we can get there in no time." From the way his eyes fell to her desk before he looked back at her, she wondered if he wanted to give her more time to deal with his strange gift.

_I wonder what it is that I'm going to need all that time for._ "Sure." She considered not asking, then went for it anyway. "That night that you first mentioned you liked me, I went over to Yuugi's. I heard someone riding around on a motorcycle on the way there, and we heard it again on the way back. Was that you?"

Honda ducked his head a little, and she wondered if he were actually blushing. She'd seen it before, but it was still fun to see it again. "Yeah. I wasn't really trying to...follow you or anything." He ducked his head more. "I wasn't trying not to, either."

"You did kind of scare me some." She admonished him with a sharp nod of her head. "But it's all right." She hadn't thought about the mysterious cycle sound too much after that night, but it was still good to clear things up.

Classes started back up again shortly after everyone had finished their lunch. Anzu's thoughts drifted again and again to the box in her desk, and she was hard-pressed the closer it got to the end of the day not to just yank it out and find out what was in it.

_I am not going to get this thing taken away._ The memory of Ms. Chono and the puzzle that Honda, Jounouchi, and Yuugi had given Miho had not faded in the years since it had happened. None of their teachers now were quite that cruel, but she still didn't want it to go anywhere but home with her. Unlike Miho, she knew who had given it to her, and she also didn't want any of the teachers trying to get them into trouble for underage dating. Candy might be overlooked and ignored for today, but something like this was a bit different.

By the time the end of the day came, Anzu had managed to avoid being held back to clean the room again by the barest of margins, and the first thing she did when the last bell rang was to scoop everything into her bag, including the box, and hurry out of school. She paused to change into her regular shoes from her school slippers, leaning against the lockers to balance herself as she made the switch.

_As soon as I'm done with work and can get home, I can find out what this is._ She glanced at the box quickly and smiled just at the sight of it. There had to be something _special_ in it. Nothing she could imagine seemed to fit it, or Honda's style, at the same time. That did bode well; it meant it was going to be a surprise. Anzu liked surprises. Most of the time.

She glanced to one side as she saw someone going by her, and almost called out to Bakura once she realized it was him there. A quick glance showed her that none of the others were there, but that wasn't so surprising. They tended to be a little slower most of the time, talking about whatever plans they had for after school. _And I bet the others want to know what Honda got me, if they don't already know._ The guys were going to talk to each other about things they didn't talk to her about. She was used to it, even if she didn't like it.

What stopped her from saying anything was who she saw coming towards her pale-haired friend. Neither of them paid the least bit of attention to her, or anyone else. There weren't that many people who appeared to have noticed them regardless, since everyone else was so focused on getting their outside shoes on and getting out of there. Anzu tried not to move too quickly or too slowly as she straightened herself up once she'd changed. If this were what she thought it was, she didn't want them to see her and perhaps get nervous or angry.

_I guess that is what I think it is._ Neither of them made anything that most people would have assumed was a romantic move, but she could see both their expressions, and both sets of eyes were warmer and more caring than she'd ever seen them be towards almost anyone. She thought she even saw something that could be construed as a smile on the other's face. _Wow. Imagine that._

Her gaze drifted from them towards the clock on the wall and she bit back a squeal as she realized she just had enough time to get to the train if she ran. Shouldering her bag, she hurried past them without so much as a backward glance or wave and got going towards the train station as quickly as her feet could carry her.

The thought of Bakura and his unexpected romance was shoved to the back of her mind where it belonged for the rest of the day. Her own love life was of much more interest to her right now. The thought of the box hovered, as it had since he had given it to her, just where it would pounce on her at the least little distraction.

Just as she'd presumed, the candy store was swamped with people wanting to buy either last minute obligation chocolates or the means to make their own for someone they cared about. She delivered her best service ever, smiling and suggesting for all she was worth. All the while, she kept that one little part of her mind thinking about the upcoming ride home and what could come afterwards.

When her shift ended, Honda was, of course, outside and waiting for her. This time, he had brought his motorcycle, and had the spare helmet in his hand as she came over. She glanced at the cycle curiously as she settled it on her head, more than a little nervous. This was her first time on anything like it. She did trust Honda not to have asked her if he didn't think he could handle a rider. What she did not trust was her own ability to pull this off.

"You've still got it, right?" he asked as she settled behind him. She nodded quickly.

"You're not going to give me any hints, are you?" She didn't think he would. What would be the point of a surprise if he did?

"Right." He did give her a grin, which was much nicer than a hint, really. She clasped her arms around his waist, made certain her bag was firmly secured so it wouldn't fall off, and gritted her teeth as the motorcycle started up.

Describing just how it felt was the next thing to impossible. She clung tightly as he drove along, and hoped she wasn't distracting him too much as she did. She lifted her head a little and looked around, amazed at how quickly they were going. It was an entirely different experience from being in a car, and the longer they zoomed along, the more she wanted to keep on doing this. She couldn't imagine being quite this free in any other environment. _Yeah. I could __**really**__ get used to this._

In far too short of a time, they pulled up outside of her house, and Anzu got off, quivering slightly from the vibrations. "That was incredible!" She exclaimed, eyes bright and happy. "When can we do that again?"

"Let me know when you've got some free time and we can go riding," Honda told her. His eyes dropped to her bag and the box, then lifted back up to her. With just that, she wondered if the contents had something to do with the ride, the cycle, or a date of some kind itself. There was only one way to find out now.

"I'll do that. Thanks!" She darted forward on the spur of the moment and gave him a lightning quick hug. His eyes widened in surprise, and she felt his own arm going around her gently, returning the squeeze. "See you later."

"Yeah. Later." He almost sounded strangled and she stifled a laugh as she stepped back and watched him go. If she'd known doing that would shock him that much, she might've done it much sooner!

She hurried inside once he was gone, and waved a quick greeting to her parents before putting her books in her room and pulling out the box. Her homework could wait. She'd delayed looking at this long enough! She tore off the wrapping and saw underneath a plain white box, which she opened in the space of a heartbeat or two. Inside, there was quite a lot of wrapping, which explained why there had been no rattling from within. She poked into it, and discovered that whatever it was, was made up of many smaller pieces, each one wrapped separately. She unwrapped the first one she picked up and blinked.

Oh. So that was what it was. A slow smile made it's way across her face as she looked at the puzzle piece in her hand. _That's what he meant. He must have done this one himself, instead of asking Yuugi to do it for him._

Carefully, she unwrapped more pieces, fitting each of them together as she soon as she could. Yuugi's grandpa must have given him a different puzzle type this time, since it was larger in size and with more pieces than she remembered Miho's having been. Slowly the message began to come together piece by piece. Before too long, she was very certain of just what it said, but she refrained from reading it completely to herself until she was finished.

Finally, she placed the last piece of the puzzle, and looked down at it as a whole thing for the first time.

_Anzu, I don't have any words for how I feel about you that would do you justice. You already know how much I like you. Will you go out with me this Friday night? Honda Hiroto._

She read it over and over again, then reached for her phone and dialed Honda's number. There were barely two rings before she heard his voice. "Hello?"

"What do you think about going to a museum for our date?" she asked. "There's some really cool exhibits at almost all of them right now."

"Yes!" Anzu pulled the phone away from her ear at the ecstatic shout and laughed, unable to help herself. Honda sounded more as if he'd saved the world than been told yes about a date. "I mean, sure that sounds good. What time should I pick you up?"

"Maybe we should decide which museum we're going to first?" she countered. Once all of those pesky details were out of the way and the arrangements had been made, Anzu had one other thing to tell him. "I really liked the puzzle. You did it yourself, didn't you?"

"Yeah. I wanted to be sure it really was from me this time. It's stupid, but I hoped maybe things would work out better with you than they did with Miho if I did."

"I don't think it's all that stupid," she told him with a smile she knew he didn't see, but hoped he could hear. "It's working, isn't it?"

Anzu couldn't see his smile any more than he could see hers, but she _knew_ he was smiling all the same. "Yeah. It is."

**The End**


End file.
